His Girl Friday
by Emerald Stag
Summary: Chloe Sullivan waited years to gain Clark Kent's attention. Now that she has it, she is about to learn just how unique dating a farm boy could be. SEASON 2 AU - CHLARK
1. Chapter 1: Bushwhacked

Author's Note: I'm back to writing multi-chaptered fic and still plan to finish Beastly Beauty but this was calling to me.

**Chapter One – Bushwhacked**

Less than 24 hours ago, Chloe Sullivan was living her teen dream: dancing at the Spring Formal with her date, who happened to her best friend and crush, Clark Kent. Since then however, a natural disaster hit Smallville in the form of a tornado, Clark disappeared on Chloe at the dance and somehow ended up saving Lana Lang, and now she was spending the afternoon walking through the woods with Clark and Pete frantically searching for the former's father, who had gone missing during the tornado's destruction.

"Mr. Kent!" she shouted out into the wilderness – moving past the map-reading Clark – all the while trying to squash down the hurt feelings still resonating inside her from being ditched at the dance. Matters of life and death were in the balance, and she was determined to act normal and help Clark find his father no matter how uncomfortable she felt around him at the moment. He was still her best friend even if she currently thought of him as an insensitive prick.

When Clark rolled up the map he was looking at and started a conversation with her, Chloe immediately fell back on her wit to enable her to stay emotionally distant while being able to banter back and forth with him like normal. It was a self-defense mechanism and she would ride it faithfully while Clark puts her back in the friend zone and leaves her alone to cry out her tears. Right now though, wasn't the time to turn their doomed date into an episode of Dawson's Creek, Clark's dad was missing and a situation much more important to resolve.

"So, how can I make it up to you?" asked Clark innocently, not realizing he had served up the moment Chloe's defense was waiting for.

"Actually, you know I've been thinking," Chloe started, stopping their walk and taking in one last eyeful of Clark thinking about her outside of the friend zone. She was going to miss it. Chloe brought out her bright-eyed look and self-deprecating smile while mentally saying goodbye to the idea of ever dating the lovable Clark Kent. "It's funny how a natural disaster puts your life in perspective. But I think it might be better if -"

Chloe's eyes widened when her rambling was cut off by Clark leaning down and kissing her. It wasn't the best kiss, their teeth clanged, Clark held the map in his hand against her shoulder, but to Chloe it was simply amazing. Clark's lips were warm and demanding, creating a pleasant pressure against her own. She clutched the back of his plaid shirt awkwardly totally overwhelmed by the kiss, but when he did step back Chloe had a big smile that mirrored the one on Clark's face.

"What were you saying?" asked Clark while putting his arm around Chloe's shoulders and starting their walk again.

"I, uh, um," babbled Chloe briefly as she repeatedly brought her hand up to her mouth, touching her fingers to her still tingling lips. It was Clark's soft chuckling next to her that rebooted her brain. In response she smacked his chest affectionately. "I was going to say that there are things between us that still need to be said and explained but we need to put all of it aside for the moment because your dad is out here somewhere and needs us to find him."

Clark smiled down at her and nodded. "You're right of course; we can worry about our next date once my dad's back home."

Chloe's insides fluttered at the words 'next date' but she restrained herself to only smiling and grabbing Clark's hand, leading the way while thoroughly enjoying the warmth of his touch.

* * *

Sharing a passenger seat with Mrs. Kent inside an ambulance wasn't where Chloe had expected to be next, but Clark had been adamant that she help his mom while he went ahead towards Hobson's Pond and the remains of an old church's subterranean crypt where they now suspected Mr. Kent may have taken cover in.

When they arrived at the location with the rest of the rescue caravan, it was not a pretty sight. The mobile home Chloe remembered passing by earlier in the day had completely caved in on itself and was no longer blocking the entrance to the crypt. Mr. Kent was sitting there dirty and bruised, holding up Clark who looked shaky enough to have been trapped with Mr. Kent himself instead of having just arrived minutes before. And then there was Lex Luthor, standing a few feet behind the male Kents looking on while partially blocking Chloe's view of a fallen man behind him.

She surmised that the man was the tabloid reporter that Clark had told her had been harassing his family and was thought to have been involved with Mr. Kent's disappearance. Chloe wanted to run over there but held back as Mrs. Kent and the rescue workers swarmed Clark and Mr. Kent, and the sheriffs went to question Lex.

Once the EMTs had ushered Mr. and Mrs. Kent over to the ambulance and left Clark on his own, Chloe threw out propriety and quickly closed the distance between them. When Clark turned and noticed her approach, she sped up to a run and jumped into his arms.

Clark easily held her up off the ground and against him while she put her arms around his neck and proceeded to kiss him deeply and repeatedly. She combed her left hand through his dark locks and tightened her grip on him with the right, constantly whispering to him that while she hadn't been worried for him, she was glad he was safe and sound.

Discreet coughs and a clearing of a throat interrupted their moment and they quickly parted both developing blushes upon the discovery that their intruders were in fact Clark's smiling parents.

"Are you alright, Dad?" asked Clark, trying to change the subject.

"I feel like a house fell on me, but I'm fine -"

Mrs. Kent interrupted her husband. "Your father has a broken rib but he _will_ be fine."

"That's great news, Mr. Kent," chimed in Chloe happily, arm firmly around Clark's waist.

"Dad, I'm glad that you didn't ..." Clark trailed off, not wanting to say anything about Nixon in front of Chloe.

Mr. Kent understood though. "Son, I have to admit, it was the hardest thing I've had to do. It took every fiber of my being but I started thinking about you and everything your mom and I have tried to teach you and I'd realized if I'd done that, Nixon would have won."

Despite their vagueness Chloe quickly connected the dots of the conversation and what they'd found here at Hobson's Pond and reflexively gasped at the conclusion she came up with. It was a soft, quiet gasp but Clark's closeness had let him to notice. When he glanced down at her with concern, Chloe squeezed his waist to let him know she was there for him.

Satisfied with Chloe's reaction, Clark turned back towards his parents. "It's a good thing Lex was there," he commented.

"About that, son, Nixon told me Lex offered to buy information on us," replied Mr. Kent.

Chloe's grip on Clark tightened but he didn't act surprised and quickly answered back. "Lex told me he warned Nixon to stay away."

Mr. Kent's face went completely serious and he stepped close to Clark. "One of them is lying, son."

Chloe was awed when Clark didn't back down from his father's tone. "The question you need to ask yourself, Dad, is which one tried to kill you and which one saved your life."

"Mr. Kent!" greeted a timely Lex as he walked up to the Kents and Chloe.

After Clark's words, Mr. Kent seemed to lose the usual gruffness he wore whenever Chloe had seen him near Lex or talking about Lex and instead showed a genuine kindness that Clark often showed – and was easy for a girl to fall in love with – clearly something he inherited from his father. "Lex, you saved my life and I want to say thank you."

Even Lex seemed a bit surprised at first by the friendly welcome but the very next moment he jumped at the opportunity. "To a fresh start," he said, shaking hands with Mr. Kent.

"Yeah," replied Mr. Kent with a soft smile.

Chloe – thrilled to have the tension in the group visibly disappear – eagerly clapped her hands together and declared, "I think this sounds like time to head back to the farm for some of Mrs. Kent's warm apple pie! Clark and I can show off our Spring Formal pictures for you all to look at." She pulled out a CD from her messenger bag and waved it around.

Everyone shared a laugh at the look of uneasiness that appeared on Clark's face, especially Chloe.


	2. Chapter 2: Paired

Author's Note: Thank you to Amber 90210, Kairan1979, ben10987654321, dizzy78, JateSkateFate815, BlueMizuki, narniaXisXhome for your reviews. I appreciate the support.

**Chapter Two – Paired**

"You didn't have to help with the dishes, Chloe," Mrs. Kent reminded her gently. "I appreciate the help but I imagine you'd rather spend time with my son than his dishes."

"It's not a problem, Mrs. K," replied Chloe as she finished wiping dry the plate in her hands. "Besides, with how fast Clark escaped to the barn when our Spring Formal slideshow finished, I figure he wants some time to himself."

Nervous laughter escaped Mrs. Kent, but she still approached Chloe and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Clark has always embarrassed easily, you know that. Now, why really aren't you out there with Clark right now?"

Chloe glanced at Mrs. Kent before turning to look out the window above the sink. "I thought about it," she admitted, biting her lower lip slightly. "But then I saw Lana walk into the barn."

Mrs. Kent embraced Chloe from behind. "I know you see Lana Lang as a rival, Chloe, but Clark made his choice and I can't be happier for both of you. Trust that he'll stay true to you, dear. You're his best friend and he'd move the stars before thinking of causing you pain."

Chloe couldn't help but be affected by Mrs. Kent's words. She grabbed the dish towel to wipe her wet cheeks and gave the older woman a grateful smile. "You're right, of course. Clark really takes after you and Mr. Kent."

Mrs. Kent nodded but her eyes quickly darted to the window leading Chloe to turn and take a look as well. Lana was exiting the barn and walking away from it at a very quick pace heading back towards her home. She didn't look too happy from whatever just happened with Clark inside the barn.

Chloe handed off the towel in her hands to Mrs. Kent, who gave her a knowing look. "I think, I'll go see how Clark's doing in his _fortress_," Chloe said, drying her hands on the front of her jeans.

Not waiting to hear Mrs. Kent's reply she hustled out of the kitchen and the house, making her way to the Kent barn. The doors were open so she darted inside, only slowing down when finally reaching the steps to the loft. Taking a deep cleansing breath, Chloe ran her hands through her hair and gave herself a once over before walking up the stairs.

She found Clark waiting in the loft, leaning against the railing. Once Chloe reached the top, he turned towards her and gave her a smile; albeit one that he had noticeable trouble forming. Immediately, Chloe's internal alarms went off and dozens of worst case scenarios started running through her mind. That didn't stop her from trying to comfort him though.

"Everything alright?" she asked softly, reaching up to caress his cheek. Clark reflexively closed his eyes and leaned into her hand.

"They will be," he whispered.

Chloe wasn't sure how to get the answers she wanted out of Clark but decided to go with the straight ahead approach. "I saw Lana leaving looking upset. Did something happen?"

Clark straightened and took a deep breath before exhaling and turning to face the loft railing. "She was looking for answers I didn't have to give."

Chloe sidled up to Clark and nudged him with her shoulder playfully. "And do you have any answers for my questions? Like how you found Lana and got her to Smallville Medical when I was the one that drove us to the dance and my car was still in the parking lot when they let us out. Or why you left without even telling me, you don't know how worried I was when you just disappeared. It's not like you carry a cellphone."

Clark continued to stare out at the rest of the barn, and it was only when he reached for Chloe's hand resting on the railing that she knew he wasn't ignoring her. "I don't want to lie to you, Chloe, but I don't have an answer for those questions right now. Someday I will, I promise you."

"Way to play the tall, dark and mysterious card, Clark. It's not Wall of Weird worthy is it?" joked Chloe.

Clark squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, I'm still just Clark."

"Of course you are," agreed Chloe, patting his hand patronizingly. "Clark Kent, the dance ditcher."

Clark winced. "About that, I really want to make it up to you, Chloe. I never should have left without letting you know. I just can't bear to have friends in danger when I might be able to help them if I try. I still want you to have that dream night."

Chloe reached up and pulled his head down close to hers. "Well, I think making out in the woods was a good comeback." She closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against his. "And maybe some time spent making out in your _fortress_ will help as well."

Clark had no problems with that idea, leading to Chloe's giggles and their kissing sounds being the only sounds that would come out of the Kent barn for the rest of that evening.

* * *

Spending the summer as a newly made couple didn't go as easily as Chloe and Clark had imagined. At first things went smoothly; Chloe would spend her afternoons with Clark, either at the farm or at the Talon. She had expected things to be awkward around Lana since Whitney went off to join the Marines but the dark-haired girl had instead acted like a true friend and genuinely seemed happy for her and Clark.

Chloe and Clark were practically inseparable around town but she did end up putting her foot down when it came to being one of those nauseating couples that no one wanted to be around and as a result they limited the amount of PDA that happened around their friends. For the most part Chloe was content to just hold Clark's hand and visibly radiate a happy glow.

Unfortunately being on break from school also meant being available for new opportunities, including ones that meant being away from Clark for the rest of the summer like the Daily Planet internship Chloe got accepted for. Clark was happy for her, but he couldn't hide the fact that he would miss her presence because she was going to miss him too and they initiated a few frantic make out sessions before she left to emphasize that point.

Her dad, Gabe Sullivan, normally worked at the Smallville Plant but arranged to work the summer at the LuthorCorp Plaza offices in Metropolis so that Chloe would be able to commute easily to the Daily Planet from a nearby loft apartment they would rent for the summer.

And in a special surprise Chloe would not learn about until they arrived at their Metropolis apartment, her dad arranged for her cousins, Lois and Lucy Lane to spend the summer with them. Chloe was surprised that her uncle, General Sam Lane, would be so cooperative when previously visits from the Lanes had been few and far between but she quickly got the details from the sisters. This was to be the last summer before the General sent off the younger Lucy to a boarding school and as a result he was giving the girls one last summer to bond and have fun.

Of course with Chloe busy interning at the Daily Planet and her father spending his days at LuthorCorp; it left Lois and Lucy fending for themselves when it came to how to spend their days in the big city. Lucy spent her time for the most part at the Mall of Metropolis while Lois almost always ended up hanging out at the Planet waiting for Chloe to be done with her day.

The girls were close enough that the tight quarters of sharing a room didn't bother them much but it did pose a problem the few times during the summer when Clark came to visit Chloe. There were uncomfortable moments with the lack of privacy and Lois' discovery of how much fun it was to rile up Clark but that didn't deter Clark from stopping by every chance he could, which wasn't often.

If anything, Clark's few visits brought the girls even closer together, like only a cute farm boy could. Lucy tended to become quieter whenever she was in his presence, something Lois made sure to tease her about constantly. The development of their tight kinship made for several bonding opportunities, like at near the end of their summer stay in Metropolis when Lois took the opportunity to work on Chloe's hair in the bathroom while Lucy watched on. They had been at it for awhile with heavy conversation to pass the time when Chad Kroeger's "Hero" suddenly floated into their hearing range from the other room.

That meant Chloe's cellphone was ringing as that was the ringtone she had assigned to her boyfriend, Clark.

"Get that Luce," ordered Lois, unwilling to let Chloe leave before her hair was done.

The younger girl leapt off the bathroom counter and skipped over to where Chloe's phone was on the nightstand. She squeaked out a quick "Hi!" to Clark on the phone before returning to Chloe and Lois.

Chloe reached out for her phone but Lois beat her to it, grabbing the phone from Lucy's hand and immediately pressing the speakerphone button.

"Hi, Clarkie!"

"Lois," answered back Clark's voice in a weary tone. "Is it wrong to assume I'll hear from Chloe sometime during this call since it's her phone?"

"What's the matter?" pouted Lois. "I thought I left an impression on you."

"Oh, you did," said Clark simply. "Hence why I'm calling Chloe and not you."

Chloe jumped in before Lois could retort, elbowing her older cousin. "_Behave_ you two," she warned. " What's up, Clark? I thought you were going to be busy all weekend harvesting."

"I finished early," replied Clark. "And since I missed hearing your voice I thought I'd call."

"Aw, that's so sweet," cooed Chloe, rolling her eyes at Lois' fake gagging behind her and Lucy's giggling. "But it's not like I won't be back in Smallville next week for the start of school."

"I can't wait. I've never wanted so much for summer to be over with," commented Clark. "It's hard to believe we'll be sophomores already."

"I definitely don't believe it," sniped Lois as she put the finishing touches on Chloe's hair.

"Well it's all true," answered Chloe frankly. "I said my goodbyes to the Daily Planet-"

"And poor Jimmy looked absolutely crushed," interrupted Lois slyly.

"He's not still bugging you is he?" asked Clark.

"As much as I _like_ the alpha male attitude from you, Clark," replied Chloe sarcastically. "Jimmy is a good friend, and he knows I'm off limits. You made sure to mark your territory when you accompanied Lois to the Planet that one time to pick me up."

"That was classic," laughed Lois. "He looked like he was going to swallow his tongue and choke on it when Clark walked up and _surprised_ you. It was almost funny enough to make me forget about your nauseating PDA."

"You sound a tad jealous, Lois," commented Clark.

"Are you kidding me?!" Lois exclaimed. "I love that Chloe has found her tall, dark farm boy but I'm much more into suits, geeks and _men_." She finished emphatically, pushing wisps of hair that had fallen in her outrage back into place. She also looked slightly flustered but Chloe wouldn't dare mention it while Clark was still on the phone.

Instead, Chloe took the opportunity to jump up from the chair, grab the cellphone off the counter and switch off the speakerphone function. "As enlightening as your _trysts_ with Lois are to listen to, I think you wanted to talk to me."

With a backwards glance and smile at Lois – who indicated she was fine and waved her cousin off – Chloe sped out of the bathroom and into the privacy of the girls' empty bedroom, closing the door behind her. Lucy leaped off the counter intending to eavesdrop but Lois grabbed the back of her Capri pants and pulled her along in the other direction.

Chloe had a relationship and deserved privacy even if Lois was nosy and jealous. Just a little in both cases. She felt generous and decided to give her cousin ten minutes with her man before she barged in and stirred up the pot. Lucy saw the grin on her older sister's face and decided not to fight her about not being allowed to eavesdrop because she knew a Lane 'up to no good' grin when she saw one. Pillows would fly tonight.


	3. Chapter 3: Pyretic

Author's Note: Thank you to Amber 90210, Kairan1979, dizzy78, JateSkateFate815, jock wizard, Akazawa Eunice for your reviews. I appreciate the support and apologize for the long time between updates. Enjoy the extra-sized chapter! - ES (08/08/10)

**Chapter Three – Pyretic**

Much to her surprise, walking through the hallways of Smallville High as a sophomore did feel different to Chloe Sullivan. Sure, she had never been into the hype of popularity or cliques, but now that she found herself in a situation where there was a group of friends around her she could not deny how nice it felt to have that much attention.

There was always the Torch, where Chloe was editor amongst her peers but it wasn't the same as being around friends where the only worries were about having fun, not what assignments needed completing to make it to publication. And it wasn't like she could hold hands with her reporters. Well, Clark did write up an article or two for the Torch but Chloe knew he was much too busy on the farm to be a regular. So hand holding was in, and from a purely biased perspective Chloe thought Clark did that quite well.

Currently, Clark was not only holding her hand but carrying her messenger bag as well on his free shoulder while they walked together. Pete was on Clark's right, filling him in on a girl he had crossed paths with in the parking lot earlier while on Chloe's left was Lana Lang, who seemed quite eager to adapt into their little group now that Whitney Fordman wasn't around anymore.

To Chloe, it wasn't really that selfish of a move by Lana as she'd always been genial to them and now Chloe was open to the idea of being better friends with her, especially after how well she came to accept Chloe and Clark's new status quo at the end of school last year.

"Don't forget I need to borrow the two of you later for the video I'm putting together for Whitney," Lana said, reminding Clark and Chloe.

"Yeah, with you two running late Lana hounded me all morning to say a little something to our former star quarterback," chimed in Pete.

Clark laughed. "And I'm sure you minded all that much being in front of the camera. I seem to remember a ten year-old Pete Ross constantly standing in front of his bedroom mirror pretending to be interviewed."

Lana and Chloe cooed at the image while Pete's cheeks flushed. "I thought we promised each other no embarrassing childhood stories once we reached puberty," he said, punching Clark in the shoulder.

"I didn't realize you had hit it already," Clark said laughing. "I thought growth spurts were supposed to happen at that time."

Chloe dug her elbow into Clark's side and interrupted before Pete could retaliate. "Very mature, Mister 'My-Telescope-is-Pointed-at-Lana's-House'."

"I-I can explain," stuttered Clark, while Lana blushed furiously.

"No need," smiled Chloe, cheerfully clutching Clark's arm closer and looping it with hers. "I already knew the truth going into this relationship. You're a perv."

Pete roared with laughter, putting out a hand to lean on Clark. "Oh man, she got you good, bro. Is that also the reason why you two arrived late this morning?"

"I wish," said Chloe, pausing a moment to look abashed before continuing on. "I mean, my dad and I got in from Metropolis really late last night so I only had time to eat some pie and jump into bed. Thanks, Clark, by the way for that plate of your mom's pie. I don't know how you were able to leave it in my room, but you know how much I love her pie. I could only eat a bite and left the rest on the kitchen table this morning for my dad to finish off." She reached up and pecked Clark on the lips.

"It was nothing," said Clark, dazedly. "My mom actually suggested it but when I went over to your house you guys hadn't arrived yet so _luckily_ I noticed your window was unlocked and slipped the plate in through there. I was hoping you wouldn't mind."

Chloe squeezed Clark's hand. "Not at all, I love when you're thoughtful like that."

"I doubt any girl here in Smallville would mind if you snuck into their bedrooms, Clark," added Lana with a smile. "With Mrs. Kent's pie along for the ride of course."

"Hey!" said Chloe, with fake outrage. "Hands off my Pie Man."

Lana stuck out her tongue in response.

"Uh oh," said Pete, "Let's not start any _wars_, ladies. After all, we all know I'm Mrs. Kent's favorite when it comes to eating her pie."

Chloe and Lana came to a sudden halt in the hall, hands on their hips, sending a glare Pete's direction before glancing over at Clark waiting to see what he'd do.

"Don't look at me," said Clark, putting his hands up in deference to the girls. "I know when not to jump on a sinking ship, and Pete, right now you are the Titanic to their iceberg."

With a nod to Chloe and Lana, Clark moved past them and through the classroom doorway they had stopped at. Pete ducked his head and quickly followed behind leaving Chloe and Lana to roll their eyes in exasperation before heading into the class as well.

The classroom they entered was home to their Biology class and upon that realization every step that brought them closer to their seats felt like they were walking to their doom. The reason for that dread was well deserved. It was widely shared by everyone who had taken Biology with Mrs. Kowalski or had a parent that did, that on the first day of class she would start off the school year with an ancient educational video on Sex Ed.

Chloe chose a seat near the windows hoping for a brief respite from the hottest heat wave to hit Smallville in twenty-five years. Any expected relief from the heat by coming indoors was for naught. As was evident with the amount of oscillating fans scattered throughout the room and the lack of noise coming from the air conditioning vents, it looked like Chloe would get little cooling.

Lana slid in to the seat next to her, while the boys kept on until reaching seats near the front. They seemed to be in the middle of a discussion so Chloe turned to Lana. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Mrs. Kowalski and Sex Ed, two things I never want interacting," said Lana, shuddering.

"Ditto."

The girls braced themselves for what was to come and looked towards the doorway dreading the moment a mature, grandmotherly type woman ready to play an educational video as old as her would walk through but instead were surprised to see a much younger woman flounce into the classroom wearing a very short sundress. Chloe's eyebrows rose in disbelief as the woman – in her late twenties by Chloe's estimation – introduced herself as the teacher of their class.

"Good morning, I'm Miss Atkins, and I'll be your new Biology teacher," announced the woman standing at the front of the class before she turned and pulled down the projector screen. "I'm really sorry about the air conditioning situation in here but it looks like we're just going to have to suffer through it together."

The boys in the classroom all seemed to be more than fine with suffering through the heat now that Miss Atkins was there, especially Pete. Lana giggled at the reactions until Chloe nudged her to stop before she drew any attention their way. There was something about Miss Atkins that seemed odd to Chloe and the reporter in her was determined to find out what it was. She'd keep that thought to herself for the time being though, knowing that it would sound irrational and hint of jealousy if she voiced her first impression of the attractive new teacher the boys couldn't stop staring at.

Watching the Sex Ed video was about as boring as Chloe expected; the mating habits of lions and monkeys used as a parallel for humans was not something she wished to see, let alone learn about. She'd already learned everything she needed about sex from conversations with her cousins, an awkward sit-down with her dad that she never liked to think about and the stack of books he left her with after that talk went downhill. All that was left was practical experience, something she hoped to progress with now that she was back in Smallville with her farm boy boyfriend.

Daydreams were not on the schedule for Chloe. Instead she found herself angrily fixated with Clark's constant wandering eye towards Miss Atkins. The first few times she noticed Chloe tried not to let it bother her, knowing that adolescent boys like Clark sometimes find themselves wowed by the female body. But eventually the fact that it wasn't her body Clark was not so subtly staring at led to Chloe stabbing her pencil into the table she shared with Lana, catching the other girl's attention.

"What's wrong?" said Lana in a whisper.

Chloe merely waved her hand in Clark's direction, where Lana became witness to his failed attempts at casual surveillance of the new teacher. A secret agent spy he was not, and right now Chloe felt he was slowly approaching the bad boyfriend zone as well.

Again they watched in silence as Clark sneaked another peek, only this time he was caught by Miss Atkins. That seemed to work for a few minutes before Clark started looking again.

"I can't believe him, Chloe. Do you want me to hit him with this microscope?"

"No, as much as I appreciate the offer and despite how much fail his actions are right now, it's just his hormones acting up," said Chloe with a sigh.

"You're not even going to call him on it? He's being pretty rude."

Chloe gave Lana a wry grin. "Look at it from his perspective, we've been together only a handful of times over the last three months and then he has Miss Atkins sprung upon him on the first day of school in the middle of a heat wave looking all hot and sweaty in that sun dress. He's still only a boy under those broad shoulders of his."

"You're stronger than me, Chloe. My boyfriend is thousands of miles away and I'm still feeling like I should be staring daggers at Miss Atkins."

"Oh, don't get me wrong," assured Chloe, "Clark's about to get called on it."

With a glance back at Miss Atkins to make sure she wouldn't be seen, Chloe tore a sheet of paper from her spiral notebook and crunched it into a ball that she launched across the room and off Clark's head. Clark jerked and found himself staring at the combined glare of Chloe and Lana. Chloe nodded towards the screen and Clark had the decency to wince before turning towards the front of the room.

Chloe and Lana exchanged looks of exasperation before turning back towards the screen themselves. To their dismay the educational video was still in the middle of explaining mating rituals. Unable to watch monkeys thrusting for a moment longer, Chloe moved her gaze back to her favorite thing to look at since she moved to Smallville years ago, Clark Kent. The heat was having a wonderfully visual effect on his shirt, and she quickly became fascinated with how it clung to him.

This wonderful distraction kept Chloe from noticing right away that Clark's attention had once again wandered from the Sex Ed video. It was only when her chest started to feel uncomfortably warm that she shifted her eyes and noticed Clark with his head turned again. The surprise was that this time he was staring at her, or well her chest for the most part. If not for how uncomfortable she felt at the moment, she might have enjoyed being the object of Clark's desire right in the middle of class.

Hoping to feel some cool air Chloe tugged on the spaghetti strap of her top and missed that Clark had started squinting or that he turned back towards the front of the classroom. The next thing she knew, the uncomfortable heat was gone from her chest and the projector screen had busted into flames. Both she and Lana immediately jumped out of their seats, Lana helping Pete herd students out of the classroom under Miss Atkins direction while Chloe joined Clark at the front of the class.

"Grab the fire extinguisher!" shouted Chloe, her instructions knocking Clark out of his shocked daze and toward the canister sitting atop one of the side desks of the classroom while she moved back towards the windows and yanked down a section of drapes from their hooks.

She tried to smother the flames using the heavy drapes and had minimal success, only succeeding in preventing the fire from spreading. Soon enough, Clark was by her side with the fire extinguisher spraying the flames as best he could. They battled the fire for a few minutes before the smoke started to get to Chloe and she had to bail out of the classroom coughing.

Firefighters were just arriving and jogged past her into the room to take care of the flames. Clark was sent out into the hallway shortly after and Chloe gratefully lunged into her boyfriend's smoky arms.

"You okay?" he asked worriedly.

"My hero," said Chloe into his chest. "I'm okay now."

"I'm sorry about earlier, Chloe," said Clark. "I was a little out of it in there, it was hot and then it started getting hotter-"

"Okay, okay," interrupted Chloe with a wave of her hands. "The fact that a fire just inexplicably burst into existence in the middle of our classroom, I think I can pass off that whole class as a bunch of unexplainable overheated hallucinations."

"Alright … I think."

"Don't think you're out of the dog house though," said Chloe, leading Clark out of the school. "Now, hold me while we get some fresh air outside."

They joined the rest of their evacuated class – and school – in the school parking lot watching the Smallville Fire Department handle the fire. The flames were put out in a matter of minutes and the firefighters quickly attempted to restore order to the school, going through the crowd and checking everyone out for smoke inhalation. Pete and Lana gathered around Chloe and Clark once they were outside and the foursome huddled together throughout the ordeal.

Chloe was surprised to see Lex's silver Ferrari drive up to the crowd, but she followed Clark when he headed in the direction of the car. They were both shocked when Lex exited his car and went straight past them to the fire truck where Miss Atkins was being checked out and embraced her.

They shared a confused look at seeing the young billionaire Luthor acting so close to their new teacher. Chloe and Clark were so preoccupied by the revelation that they didn't even notice the two young adults walk right up to them.

"Clark here is the one that that kept a cool head and helped contain the fire," said Miss Atkins, pointing out Clark to Lex.

Chloe cleared her throat and Miss Atkins suddenly seemed to remember her. "Oh, Miss Sullivan assisted him as well."

"Why am I not surprised?" replied Lex. "Once again, I'm grateful to you, Clark, and you too of course, Chloe."

"And I'm confused," said Clark honestly.

"Me too," chimed in Chloe.

Lex smiled indulgently. "I'm sorry; the fire emergency seemed to erase my manners. I'd like you two to meet, Desirée Atkins, my fiancée."

Chloe and Clark flashed confused smiles to the happy couple. That bad feeling Chloe had back in class about Miss Atkins returned with a vengeance upon hearing of the woman's new status at Lex's side. Before the conversation could continue however, an 'all clear' announcement came over the school loudspeakers, allowing everyone to return to their schooldays.

"See you in class you two," said Miss Atkins, sending a loving look to Lex before leaving to head back inside the high school. The two teens walked up to Lex's side and watched her walk off.

"Where did you dig her up?" said Chloe bluntly, staring intently at Miss Atkins back.

Clark coughed and chided her with a look. "What Chloe meant was we didn't even know you were seeing anyone. You sure about this?"

"I've never been surer of anything in my life," said Lex dreamily. After a moment he realized that Clark was the one standing next to him and reached into his coat pocket. "Oh! I was going to have this sent over to the Kent Farm but since you're here ..."

Clark accepted the envelope and opened it to reveal a wedding invitation. Chloe snuck her head in and read the note at the same time.

"A wedding? Tonight?" she asked.

"I know it's short notice but I was hoping you'd be my best man," said Lex to Clark.

Clark was stunned silent until Chloe not so gently kicked his ankle. "I'd be honored, Lex."

"Good," said Lex, grasping Clark's shoulder. "You two better get to class, you never know when the next fire is going to erupt."

Clark was all set to head back in but was stopped cold by Chloe's knowing glare. He quickly turned back to Lex. "Hey Lex!" he shouted. "I can bring Chloe as my date right?"

Lex stopped just before entering his Ferrari to look at Clark. "Isn't that a given, Clark?"

* * *

Chloe looked away from the camera and its blinking red light to the patient Lana hovering behind it giving Chloe an encouraging smile as she struggled to finish her video message to Whitney. The sounds of Clark trying to work the espresso machine in the background weren't helping matters, although the worrying glances Lana would send his direction every now and then were amusing to Chloe.

On that thought a fun grin lit Chloe's features as a clever way to close out her message came to her. "I know we weren't that close Whitney, but I think it's brilliant that you are over there fighting for the freedoms we get to explore back here in Smallville. And keep in mind, heroism is hot." She finished with a vivacious wink for the camera that sent Lana into a fit of giggles.

"That's going to get the boys over there riled up for sure," said Lana, smiling as she snapped shut the video camera and started putting it away in her bag.

"Especially since you decided to do it in your dress for Lex's wedding," said Clark carrying a pair of drinks to the girls.

"You were the one who wanted to go first, Clark," Chloe reminded him. "Our hair and these dresses take time to put on and get right, not like you _boys_ and your ability to quick change like your life depended on it." She shared a look with Lana. "You know, _we_ didn't even get to hear what you said to Whitney, maybe we should play it back now."

Clark quickly moved between the girls and the camera bag. "No need to be hasty," said Clark nervously, waving his arms dismissively. "You both look stunning in those dresses. To die for."

That stopped Chloe and Lana in their tracks and they moved together for a set of poses while Clark took pictures using Chloe's camera. For the next few minutes they were a jumbled mess of awkward angles and boisterous laughter – especially once they set the timer and pulled Clark into the shots too – until the Talon's ringing phone broke through the moment and put a stop to their fun.

Lana sighed and pulled herself away from the couple to glide across the Talon towards the back room that held the ringing phone. Chloe and Clark adjusted themselves in the barstools but once Chloe licked her lips Clark closed the gap to claim those very lips.

"You do look fantastic, Chlo," said Clark between kisses. "That wasn't a line I was using earlier."

Chloe laughed softly. "I knew that, Clark Kent. If there's one thing I'm positive about you is that there is no room for player lines in your muscled farm boy repertoire."

"Well, the color suits you," said Clark, a finger lingering on her bare left shoulder before trailing down her back sending shivers down Chloe's spine.

"I've missed you," said Chloe, smiling as she gazed into Clark's eyes. "You know, this is the first chance we've had to be alone since I got back. I've been waiting all day to be in your arms again and feel your lips on mine."

"I can do more than that," said Clark confidently, kissing her soundly on the lips. For the next few minutes the Talon was only filled with the sounds of their hormonal teen passion as Clark pressed Chloe up against the bar and she hooked her leg around his to pull him tight against her.

Clark seemed to be focusing on the point on Chloe's neck where her pulse was and lavished the area with soft kisses and light bites. While the sensations were amazing on Chloe's end, she thought it was only fair to retaliate and did the best she could with Clark's strong body pinning her in place.

Running her hands through his shaggy dark locks she pulled him close and enjoyed Clark's warmth and the strong scent of crops and hay from the Kent Farm that lingered on him. The safety and affection she felt at that moment was a new experience for her and something Chloe badly wanted to be a recurring theme in her life from then on. She was head over heels in love with this farm boy who was starting to become a man; if only her cousins could see her now.

Everything was going great when Clark pulled away from her neck. Thinking he was just going to move to another part of her body she didn't give much mind to it, but when a minute passed with no further kisses she opened her eyes to see what was wrong. What Chloe found was Clark with his hands on either side of her gripping the bar counter while he grimaced and looked away.

"Are you okay, Clark?" said Chloe worriedly, reaching out to touch his chin.

Clark flinched away. "D-Don't" he warned. "I-I'm not feeling well. T-The lights, they're too bright."

"Alright," said Chloe doubtfully. "I'll see if we can turn them down a bit. I'm sure there's a dimmer switch. Lana did upgrade the electrical system when she converted this place into a coffee shop right?"

"Probably," said Clark quickly. "Just go! Talk to Lana and find out. I just need some space."

"Right away, Mr. Bi-polar," said Chloe, a little put off. Jumping off the stool, she started to walk towards the manager's office where Lana was. "If he's not ill, he will be soon," she muttered to herself.

Moments before she could reach the office a blast from behind knocked Chloe forward a few steps, slamming into the door. Rubbing her shoulder, she looked back at the bar and gawked at the mess that now existed while the door behind her opened.

"Oh my god," said Lana. "What happened?"

The espresso bar was currently in flames and the cappuccino machine was completely demolished – the blast Chloe had felt – but what had Chloe in the most distress was the sight of Clark leaning heavily against a wall near the blast area holding his head.

"I don't know, but I think you might want to call 9-1-1," said Chloe as she grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and made her way towards her boyfriend. When she reached him she couldn't help but notice that despite the situation he seemed to be in better spirits than when she left him moments before the blast.

The reporter in her made quick observations on the similarities to the fire earlier that day in Biology class and the fact that she and Clark were around for both. She pushed the facts to the back of her mind for later consumption and tried to make light of the current situation they were in. "You know, I don't remember us making enough friction to make the Talon blow, did we?"

"A few parts are hazy," said Clark lightly, welcoming her embrace.

"Unbelievable!" said Lana, throwing her hands in the air. "The fire department is on their way, the Talon is on fire, we're supposed to be on our way to a wedding and you two think it's time to flirt. I give up!"

"What can I say, Lana," said Chloe with a naughty grin on her face. "We're just combustible elements."

* * *

The ceremony went off without a hitch. Lex looked the part of the happy groom, and Desirée Atkins was stunningly beautiful in her white gown. It was the first wedding Chloe could remember attending, there might have been one or two she'd been taken to when she was a young child but she didn't like thinking about those years – back when her mom was still around.

Now that she was a young adult Chloe had much more fun dressing up and putting her hair up. It also had advantages in other areas of her life. She had noticed that Clark had been more attentive to her neck and ears in the Talon after Lana had helped get her hair ready for the wedding. The best thing though to come out of this Luthor surprise would have to be Lana.

The summer apart seemed to have transformed Lana into someone Chloe did want to know and be good friends with. The way they clicked, the fun they had together and around Clark who Lana seemed at ease being the platonic friend with – it was all exhilarating to Chloe. Not counting her cousins who she rarely saw in person anyway, she couldn't remember the last time she actually had a close girlfriend she could bond with. And now all of a sudden there was Lana, all cheery, kind and just adorable to be around.

Standing next to her as the new Mr. and Mrs. Luthor cut their wedding cake, Chloe couldn't help but admire her friend. The turquoise dress she wore was just stunning but Chloe had to admit, Lana had that way with outfits, looking hot and irresistible. She could see why Clark was attracted to Lana, what hot blooded male wouldn't be? And with how much of an amazing friend Lana was turning out to be, Chloe was just glad Clark had chosen her or else she might've developed insecurity issues. A laugh escaped her lips at the thought. This wasn't Dawson's Creek. Smallville was anything but.

"What's so funny?"

Chloe turned to Lana, inwardly sighing at the fact that her wandering mind had brought attention to herself yet again. "Oh, it was nothing."

"It has to be something," said Lana insistently. "Anything to make the time go faster please. This wedding is wonderful and all but this heat wave makes me want to strip down and jump in the Smallville High pool with it's lovely temperature controlled water and air-conditioned building." She flashed Chloe a sly grin. "Now that would be a nice night cap don't you think?"

"Just because I happen to have a copy of the school's master key so I can access the Torch at anytime doesn't mean I'll be a party to your shenanigans," said Chloe pretending to be offended. Her seemingly stern face broke a moment later as she started to giggle.

Lana hooked Chloe's arm with her own and chimed in with her own laughter. They drew a few inquiring looks from the wedding guests around them but the girls paid them no mind.

"You are so on, Miss Lang. I like the way you think," said Chloe once she caught her breath. "And the way you dress, I don't need to tell you how jealous I am of how beautiful you look in that dress."

Lana flashed a smile and squeezed Chloe's hand. "I hope that wasn't what made you laugh."

"Only in that I was comparing our lives to that of a teen drama," said Chloe.

"Well, if that was true Chloe, I think that would make you the main girl of the show," said Lana as she spied the approaching Clark. "Because you certainly caught the Boy Next Door."

Chloe's response was prevented by a pair of male, jacket-clad arms holding champagne in each hand surrounding her in a hug. "Were you talking about me?" came Clark's voice from behind her. "My ears were burning."

"That's not the only thing burning," muttered Chloe under her breath.

"In your dreams, Clark Kent," challenged Lana.

Clark shrugged and made a show of pointing out the champagne flutes he was holding. "I guess these drinks were for two other girls I know."

A swift elbow from Chloe had Clark moving around and properly handing the girls their drinks. "Thank you, Clark," said Chloe with faux innocence.

Lana raised her champagne and pressed it against her forehead. "Oh, that hits the spot," she said with some satisfaction. "Viva chilled alcohol."

Chloe mirrored her actions and sighed in relief. "Done with best man duties?" she asked Clark.

"Yeah, all that's left is for Lex and Desirée to meet and greet," said Clark, nodding.

"Desirée is it now?" said Lana interestedly. "You've warmed up to her awfully fast."

"You two should give her a chance," said Clark. "She's been nothing but friendly to me."

"I still can't believe we're going to be taking Sex Ed from Mrs. Luthor," said Chloe.

"I've never seen Lex happier," said Clark candidly.

"And I've never been happier," interrupted an approaching Lex Luthor. He greeted Clark with a handshake and the girls with kisses on the cheek. "Clark, Lana, Chloe, thank you for coming. It means a lot to me."

"We're happy to be here for you," said Lana.

"And now that I'm back in town, he doesn't go anywhere without me and vice versa," said Chloe pointing at Clark.

Lex laughed. "I'm starting to understand how that part of a relationship works." He slapped Clark on the back. "I hope you don't mind if I ask for a moment of my best man's time."

"No problem, Lex," said Clark, glancing at Chloe and Lana before walking away with Lex.

Lana cosied up to Chloe while they watched the two men walk away. "So, now that we're alone again, we were talking about you and Clark weren't we?"

"Were we?" said Chloe faintly, her cheeks reddening.

"Yes, and you were going to dish the details of how he welcomed you back," said Lana, bumping shoulders with Chloe.

Chloe bit her lower lip. "Well, there hasn't been a chance for him to 'welcome' me back yet," she admitted. "I mean, when you went to answer the phone in the Talon we had some time to ourselves but then the stupid espresso bar decided to light itself on fire."

"Maybe you two caused the fire," said Lana laughing. "All that friction built up over the summer and you two need to let it out before the whole town burns down."

"Haha," said Chloe sarcastically. "My love life or lack thereof will not be the next natural disaster to hit Smallville."

"Not yet at least," added Lana humorously, patting Chloe on the back. "It wouldn't hurt letting a little steam off."

Chloe looked up at the sweltering sky and let out a frustrated sigh. Maybe a dip in the pool would scratch a few itches that night.


	4. Chapter 4: Embers

Author's note: Thank you to dizzy78, Daniel1973, The Fallen Sky, Madlenita & dispatcher652 for your reviews. I appreciate the support. Enjoy the chapter! - ES (08/14/10)

**Chapter Four – Embers**

Outrage. Confusion. Skepticism. Bewilderment.

Chloe Sullivan experienced all of those states in the span of a few seconds as she listened to her boyfriend's guilty confession of what happened to him the night before. Despite his morose words and sullen demeanor she had a hard time believing that he was even telling an inch of truth. If it was anyone other than Clark Kent standing in front of her, she'd have beat them with her messenger bag until her arms got tired and finish up by slamming the Torch door closed in their face.

But it was Clark, and if there was one thing Chloe had learned about her secretive boyfriend over the years was that he could lie if he was pressed but he wasn't one to volunteer a lie, especially one so unbelievable. That their teacher, the former Miss Atkins and current Mrs. Luthor would visit the Kent Farm last night and walk right up into Clark's loft and attempt to seduce him sounded like every male student's fantasy and not something Clark would confuse for reality.

So she stared at him. Stared into those baby blue eyes and searched for the truth. The results she couldn't deny – he was telling the truth or at least what he thought was the truth and he felt bad that it even got that far.

"If this is some way to try to make me feel jealous, Clark, it's not the way to go because it's working," said Chloe warningly before she let out a little snark. "It sounds so outrageous that I feel like if I believe you then I guess it's also possible that earlier this week I spent a night with Lana in the school pool doing more than just swimming."

"You have to believe me, Chloe," said Clark quickly. "There's no incentive for me to lie about last night. Only people close to me would be hurt, Lex and you. And I'd never purposely hurt you like that ... wait ... _more_ than swimming?"

"Ha!" laughed Chloe falsely, still feeling slightly wounded. She was finally over the Lana mess and if any part of Clark's story was indeed true than some adult hussy had come close to wrecking her dream relationship. Instead of feeling down – which she knew would make Clark feel guiltier and that was something she didn't need right now – she pushed on, put on her game face and concentrated on finding the truth. "I knew _that_ would get your attention, but I'm pretty sure you're in the doghouse right now so just forget everything I said and spill every detail of your _tryst_ so I can get to the bottom of this."

And Clark did exactly that. He followed her to her desk and pulled a chair next to her, sat down and proceeded to go over everything that happened the previous night in his loft. As Chloe listened she proceeded to pull up the various information databases she had access to – not counting the shady ones she'd rather not have traced back to her at the Torch – and searched through the background of the new Mrs. Luthor.

The only interesting fact Chloe using her limited resources was that the former Miss Atkins once went by the name Allison Sanders and was actually a native to Smallville, having been born there nearly thirty years before. Knowing that, she thought about trying to get the woman's medical records but Chloe would have to visit Smallville Medical Center and see if she could sweet talk an intern into letting her into the file room first.

Clark had since finished retelling his night and was anxiously waiting to see Chloe's reaction and hear her analysis. Skepticism seemed to dominate her words.

"I just don't get it," Chloe sighed. "What would she see in you? It makes no sense."

"Ouch, Chloe," said Clark. "Don't hold back."

Chloe didn't and slapped his shoulder. "You do not get to act the victim here, Clark. You know what I meant. You're ..." she flashed him a smile. "Hot. But that's from my standpoint. You're half her age, basically a boy in her eyes and Lex, well he's rich, tall, and arguably handsome – not my type – and he's turned out to be a pretty decent guy and a good friend despite his lineage."

Clark perked up. "That's right and she did diss Lex the entire time she was coming on to me. Talking about how he was the only thing standing in the way us being together."

"As nauseatingly disturbing as that sounds, she clearly was looking to divide you and Lex but you didn't take the bait," said Chloe, tapping her chin with a pen thoughtfully. "You were his best man and that makes it clear you two are close. Probably the closest friend he has. But they just got married. And unless the Luthors are into certain kinks that I don't want to hear about, what reason would she have to want to hurt Lex or make him jealous?"

"I don't know," said Clark. "She's made Lex happier than I've ever seen him and I can't imagine him letting her that close to him if he didn't think she was perfect but I'm telling you, last night she _wanted_ me."

"Don't we all," said Chloe softly. "Look, let's not forget that Lex is pretty brilliant – almost to a mad genius type level from what I've read. She might be bedazzling to every male on this planet but I've had this bad feeling about her since she showed up in our lives. If she is up to something and can fool Lex than she probably is more dangerous than we think."

Clark stood. "I'm going to go to the source and talk to Lex. Maybe there's a simple explanation to this situation that your fact digging and our speculation can't come up with."

Chloe grabbed his hand before he left. "I know this is where you go off and everything somehow works out in the end but this is the first time we're together while doing this."

"What are you talking about, Chloe?" said Clark confused. "We've always been together figuring things out … oh … _together_. Well, um, it's just a talk with Lex so I'm sure everything will get straightened out and–"

Chloe pulled him down for a kiss. "I'm still mad at you but," she kissed him again. This time it was a much longer and intense lip-lock. "Just be careful."

"I will," said Clark. "And don't even think about confronting Desirée alone. I don't want her dragging you into this mess. Try to avoid her if you can."

"I'm already in this mess if you can't tell, Clark," said Chloe firmly, hands on her hips. "But the less I see of her the better. I think I'll go see if Lana has any ideas about Mrs. Luthor that we haven't thought about … like the strange fires at school and the Talon, maybe they have a connection to our seductress. Now that I think about it they only started after she showed up."

Clark smiled uncomfortably and started stepping backward towards the door. "_Great_, work on that. And I'll go see what the happy groom has to say about married life."

* * *

Of all the places Chloe imagined seeing Clark next, she had to admit behind bars was not one of them. But after the last twenty four hours she could not say she was completely surprised by the development. That sense of foreboding that she had when Clark left never disappeared and instead grew as the day went by.

She had gone to see Lana at the Talon but outside of putting together a pretty good article for the Torch on the mysterious fires there was no concrete connection they could find to Desirée Atkins Luthor. To making matters worse, Chloe was then witness to Lex notifying Lana of his intentions to close down the Talon. He was so cold and business-like about it with none of the usual Lex charm Chloe was accustomed to seeing that she had a feeling Desirée was a factor in the abrupt decision.

Her promise to Clark aside, at that moment Chloe would have enjoyed making a trip down to the Luthor Mansion to verbally smack down Desirée but Lana was so upset about the thought of losing the place she had worked so hard to fix that Chloe shoved those vindictive thoughts aside to help her friend in need. She called her dad to tell him she'd be staying with Lana for the night.

Chloe, along with Lana's aunt, Nell Potter, spent most of the night sitting with Lana not only offering comfort but trying to figure out if there was any legal way to save the Talon from Lex and Desirée. None was found however, as Lex being the financial backer of the business had the right to do what he wanted with his money.

Little sleep came during the night to any in the house, especially Chloe who suffered through nightmares for the rest of the night. Desirée Atkins Luthor haunted her dreams and nearly all of them had Clark in some kind of danger. She dreamt of Clark being engulfed in flames while Desirée watched, or Clark being shot by Lex while Desirée watched and of course, Clark falling to Desirée's seduction and the two of them fucking on top of Lex's desk in the mansion.

Needless to say when she and Lana were woken up by Nell with news from the Kents next door of Clark's arrest there was some relief felt by Chloe that he was alive and not boning Mrs. Luthor. Of course, when they heard why he was in jail it confirmed Chloe's suspicions that Desirée had to be behind it.

And that was why both girls were currently standing at the front desk of the Smallville Sheriff's Station in cute tops that were accentuated by their glistening skin from the heat wave and acting sweetly to the young deputy sheriff stationed at the desk that morning.

"Are you sure there isn't any way we could get in to see Clark? Just for a few minutes," said Lana with a bat of her eyes.

"Mr. Kent is currently under a criminal investigation, ladies," said the deputy trying to sound official.

"We just want a moment with my boyfriend," said Chloe matching Lana's pout with her own. "We haven't seen him in over a day and can't imagine how scared he is in a place like this."

The deputy laughed nervously. "I'm not really allowed to but ..." He stood up and started moving towards the door leading to the holding cells when the opening of the front door stopped him in his tracks. "Sheriff Miller!"

In walked the deputy's boss and Smallville's Sheriff, Ethan Miller, a long-time fixture in town. "Deputy," said Sheriff Miller, dismissing the man. "Miss Lang, Miss Sullivan, what can I do for two of Smallville's finest young ladies on this morning?"

"Sheriff Miller, we were hoping to see Clark. We heard he was brought in last night," said Chloe.

"Yes, he was and he's under some serious accusations," said Sheriff Miller. "Him being seen blowing up Mrs. Luthor's car and being at the location of two other fires is very suspicious."

"Don't tell me you believe he's responsible? You know Clark, hell, everyone in this town knows Clark. He wouldn't hurt a fly let alone skip that step entirely and become a pyromaniac," said Chloe.

"You're right, I do know Clark, but I also know that kids can change especially during their teenage years when hormones start taking control and they start feeling rebellious," said Sheriff Miller. "Who's to say he didn't get jealous – no offense meant, Miss Sullivan – but until there's evidence that says otherwise Clark will be under our watch."

"Can our testimonies count for anything?" asked Lana. "You know us, and you know the Kents. They wouldn't raise someone that wasn't a respectable citizen and we're with him all the time and have never seen a glimpse of trouble."

"And I'm sure you are right, but sometimes even we have our hands tied by the law, girls," said Sheriff Miller as he pushed open the door to the holding cells and held it open. "But, I do know you and young Clark, so I think it would be alright if you go and see him if you can keep it between us."

"Thank you!" said Chloe, leaping up and hugging the sheriff as she went by. Lana was much calmer and nodded her thanks as she followed behind the blonde into the holding cells area.

And there they found Clark, sitting on a cot inside the closest cell to the door staring intently into his hands.

"Clark!" said Chloe, rushing to the bars. "How are you holding up?"

He quickly rose to greet his visitors at his cell door. "I thought being accused of seducing my best friend's wife was unfair. Not so much now." He gestured to the bars standing between them.

"I knew that woman was bad news," said Chloe gripping Clark's hand.

"But we have some good news on that front," said Lana pushing through a newspaper article and some printouts to Clark. "While Chloe was trying to help me find a way to save the Talon we stumbled upon some new information about our illusive Mrs. Luthor under her Allison Sanders alias."

"Turns out back then Allison was quite popular with the boys of Smallville too," said Chloe.

"Except, she and her boyfriend were caught in the meteor shower," said Lana.

"And no need to guess what exactly two teens were up to in a truck by the lake," commented Chloe with a grin.

They proceeded to tell Clark the disturbing murders that followed over the next few years and how Desirée was the sole inheritor in both cases.

"Total Black Widow scenario, Clark," declared Chloe. "Unfortunately for her and us she invested in dot-coms, the bubble burst and she lost all her money. So she came trolling back to Smallville for wealth and snatched up Lex."

"So she was trying to seduce me to kill Lex," realized Clark. "Wait. Why did she think I'd do it?"

"Pheromones, Clark" said Chloe spelling it out for him. "She was in the throes of major passion when the meteors hit. With what we've experienced from the Wall of Weird, if her pheromone levels were enhanced then she could control any guy and get him to do whatever she wants.

"Lucky for us, it takes some members of the opposite sex more than a few days – some of us a few years – to get through to Clark," said Chloe matter-of-factly. "It looks like Mrs. Luthor falls into that category."

"Yeah, lucky us," agreed Lana quietly.

Clark looked ready to say something and glanced over at Lana before facing Chloe's knowing gaze again. Before he could answer though, she reached in and put her fingers against his mouth.

"It's okay, Clark, I've dealt with the whys and hows of your hormones for years now," said Chloe. "I'm just glad I emerged victoriously from the friend zone."

"Me too," said Clark smiling. He leaned between the bars and Chloe met him halfway for a kiss. Unfortunately it was barely a quick peck as the next moment in came Sheriff Miller.

"Alright kids, time's up," he announced, holding the door open for the girls to exit through.

Chloe snuck in one more kiss before stepping back.

"Wait, my dad went to see Desirée. I need to get out of here!" whispered Clark furiously.

Chloe nodded at him and gave Lana a look before striding past the sheriff and out the door.

"Bye Clark," said Lana, slipping her arms through for a hug. "Hang tight and we'll _smoke_ out a way."

Clark looked confused but Lana only winked before moving quickly out of the room after Chloe.

Chloe made her way through the sheriff's department and stopped at the bathroom. She waited until Lana walked by to pull her in with her into the tiny space.

"Is this going to work?" asked Lana spying on the sprinkler head directly above them.

"In theory," said Chloe pulling out a lighter from her bag. "All county buildings are required by code to have a sprinkler system installed. I should just have to wave this flame by the sensor and set off all the sprinklers in the building. They'll have to let Clark out to evacuate the building and in all that confusion we can help him get away so we can prove his innocence."

"I hope this works and that this floor is clean," said Lana as she slowly went down to her hands and knees.

Before Chloe could use Lana as a step stool however, the sprinklers suddenly went off and the fire alarm was blaring. Lana scrambled to her feet and both girls held their bags over their heads to try to block the water from hitting them.

"That wasn't us, right?" said Lana.

A strong gust of wind passed right by the bathroom causing the door to swing open and close briefly.

"Definitely not us," said Chloe curiously, both of her eyebrows raised.

* * *

"So let me get this right, Miss Atkins tried to get _your_ _dad_ to kill Lex?" said Chloe from the comfort of her spot next to Clark in the hammock he put up that night in the loft since his parents were off on their 'date'.

"Yeah, and it was close," said Clark grimly. "If I was seconds later and hadn't been there to distract my dad and cause him to miss ... I don't know what would have happened. Lex might be dead and my dad would be done; there'd be no way to deny he pulled the trigger. I doubt the police would believe mind control – I hardly do and I've seen some strange things here in Smallville."

"I take it then that you three left out the whole pheromones power she has?" said Chloe.

"Better to focus on the crimes we can prove," said Clark with a nod. "Lex is making sure that she'll at least be charged with attempted murder, and filing a false police report. He also emphasized the need for female officers to handle his wife, someone like her needs to be kept from causing anymore harm."

"How's he handling the whole 'I married a psycho' reality?"

Clark reached over to his desk next to the hammock and poured them glasses of lemonade. "He's probably hunkered down with his team of lawyers trying to figure out a loophole out of that marriage. Probably wishes he had been aware enough to make her sign that prenuptial agreement his dad had sent over."

Chloe accepted her glass and greedily chugged down half of its contents. "Oh, that hits so many spots. I can't wait for this heat to be over."

"I don't know, Chloe," said Clark, checking out the outfit she wore that night – a yellow tank top and a pair of tan shorts – that revealed plenty of glistening skin. "There are some perks to the heat."

"Feels good to be the sole target of your leering again, Clark," laughed Chloe.

"For awhile there I was afraid I'd never get the chance to have fun and relax with you like again," said Clark.

Chloe shifted in the hammock so she could better face Clark. "How did you get out of that cell, Clark? Sure, Lana and I had an insane plan but honestly I didn't think it would work let alone happen before I could set it in motion."

Clark reddened and averted his gaze. "A fire just happened to start outside my cell and it set off the alarms. The sheriff let me out and I made a run for it."

"A fire just happened to start outside your cell?" Chloe asked with a smile. "Uh, huh, hm, and that must have been some run because we certainly felt something go by from our spot in the bathroom."

"You two were crazy trying to follow through with that plan," said Clark, changing the subject. "What if it had gone wrong? You two would have been arrested."

"What can I say, Clark, maybe you have your own pheromone ability because you make me do some crazy things sometimes" said Chloe.

"Well if I do, I'm glad I ensnared you," said Clark with a slow kiss. "Because the reward is nice."

Chloe nipped at his lips. "It's a mutually rewarding relationship," she replied, putting down their drinks back on his desk and straddling his lap.

"Definitely," agreed Clark as she lowered her head and kissed him senseless.

They quickly found themselves occupied with each other and both concentrated on letting the stress of the last few days disappear as they acted on the feelings between them. The view from the loft window of the barn was so magnificent, littered with shining stars that after a bout of intense kissing Chloe and Clark settled in and cuddled in the hammock while looking out at the night sky.

It was soothing and before they knew it they had drifted off in each other's arms, with the hammock calmly swaying underneath them. They were well asleep minutes before a visitor entered the quietness of the barn. A dozen steps up to the loft and the visitor revealed himself to be Lex Luthor.

Upon reaching the loft he noticed the candlelight illumination to the area and the swaying hammock with the dozing couple cuddled on it. He walked around and laughed to himself.

"Nicely done, Clark," said Lex. "Maybe I can learn a thing or two from you about relationships."

He patted Clark's shoulder lightly and left the two to their sleep, making his way out of the barn. Lex stopped at the foot of the staircase and looked back towards the loft.

"Goodnight Clark and Chloe, I think I'll leave it to the Kents to wake you," said Lex with a smile as he walked out of the barn and headed towards his car.


	5. Chapter 5: Falter

Author's Note: Thank you to Madlenita, Kairan1979, The Fallen Sky, Jeremy Shane, dispatcher652, shonnia22, dizzy78 & roshane for your reviews. I appreciate the support. Enjoy the slightly longer chapter for the slightly longer wait. - ES (08/26/10)

**Chapter Five – Falter**

Dinner at the Ross House was once a regular occurrence for Chloe Sullivan, at least it was until last May when she and Clark finally became an official couple. After that, the invitations disappeared until she returned from her summer in Metropolis. They weren't as frequent as before and Chloe noticed an awkward tension that seemed to exist in the house when she came over now.

No one made a big deal about it so Chloe ignored the tension and enjoyed herself like she always did with that family. Pete always seemed to complain about his large family but outside of the rare vacation with the Lane girls, this was Chloe's opportunity to experience the everyday life of having siblings.

Pete had three brothers and one sister and whenever Chloe came by they treated her like one of the family and she enjoyed every minute of it. Chloe cherished the opportunity to be around the happy family again and was grateful the opportunity came about because of her calling the Ross house earlier that day to beg Pete to drive her out to Lander's Field later that night to see the results of a rare magnetic storm and having Judge Ross answer and invite her to dinner.

And that's why that evening after dinner, Pete was driving Chloe in the blue Ford Falcon Futura that the older Ross siblings – and now Pete since he could drive – shared amongst one another. Lander's Field happened to be in close proximity to the Luthor Mansion, a place well known to Chloe and her friends over the last year.

As a result Pete knew the route to take and Chloe settled in for the ride. She rolled down the passenger side window and relaxed against the door, her head leaning out as she stared up at the night sky while Pete drove through town heading for the outskirts of Smallville.

"Remind me why Clark isn't the one you're dragging out to this magnetic storm?" Pete asked after awhile, interrupting the monotonous silence.

Chloe tilted her head just slightly to look back at Pete. "Well, first off I wouldn't have missed out on a Ross home-cooked meal," she said with a fond pat of her stomach. "Secondly, I might have convinced Clark to take me to a paranormal conference in Topeka last weekend that was fairly disappointing and with the uncertainty of the magnetic storm results I'd rather not risk him having two consecutive bad experiences from outings I arranged."

"Thanks, Chloe," said Pete sarcastically. "So you're saying there's a chance I'm out here for nothing."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "No, Pete, you're here being the supportive friend. My odd proclivities don't affect that. Clark, on the other hand is my boyfriend and it's important in a relationship for the couple to support each other's interests."

"I think Clark is even more supportive now that you're dating," said Pete.

"Exactly," said Chloe with a nod. "And I'm looking to keep it that way, especially since my interests tend to be more fantastical than others. That's why I brought my camera with me, if there are significant results from the storm than I'll be happy to share – Watch out!"

Pete immediately slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a skidding stop on the two-lane road. Their seat belts kept them safe but they watched in horror as in front of them a van was run off the road, crashing into the cornfield running along the road.

The reason for the van's crash was another car that was driving on the wrong side of the road. The SUV was currently stopped and the driver didn't seem interested in moving to help the crashed vehicle.

"Can you believe that?" Pete asked in disbelief. "How can they just sit there? I have a good mind to go over there and –"

"No, Pete!" said Chloe holding his arm. "People don't just go driving on the wrong side of the road by mistake. And in Smallville there is just as much chance of them being meteor infected as under the influence of normal alcohol and drugs."

Pete scowled. "So are we just going to ignore the crash to avoid this nut? That driver of the van might need medical attention."

"Of course we're not going to ignore the crash, Pete," said Chloe sighing. "We just need to scare this other car away of here. How about we ..." She reached across to the steering wheel and honked repeatedly.

That seemed to jolt the stopped SUV into motion and it sped off in the other direction. Chloe and Pete shared a look of relief and Pete drove them up the road close to the spot where the van went tumbling into the cornfield. Pulling over to the side, Pete and Chloe got out of the car and followed the path of downed crops towards the crashed vehicle.

Off in the distance they could hear the blaring horn of the van and see its' flashing lights among the crops as they made their way through the mess. When they finally reached the site where the van landed they noticed that it was overturned. Pete hustled over to check on the driver and Chloe followed behind but something caught her eye as she approached the van.

The headlights of the van lit up a section of crops in front of it and amongst the cornstalks was a sizable dark object that the light reflected off of. Chloe looked over at Pete and saw him asking the driver of the van questions and working on opening the door so she continued on past the van and approached the dark object.

Her jaw dropped the closer she got and the shape of the object became more discernible. Chloe let out a gasp as she realized she was standing just feet away from what looked like a real spaceship. UFOs weren't exactly her thing but considering this was Smallville she wasn't surprised that aliens could be involved with the weirdness of the town.

"What is that?"

Chloe jumped. She had been so mesmerized by the sight of the ship that she had forgotten that Pete and the driver were there too. She turned to Pete. "I believe it's called a spaceship, Pete."

"For real?" Pete asked with wide eyes.

Chloe smiled. "Well it's possible that the ship is some type of prop replica but we are in Smallville. The percentages of it being Wall of Weird worthy are high." She looked over Pete's shoulder at the driver he had pulled out of the van lying on the ground behind him. "How's the driver?"

That seemed to remind Pete about the driver. "Oh, he got knocked silly from that crash from what I can tell. He'll need to go to the hospital. The quickest would be getting him into my car and taking him over to Smallville Med Center."

The urge to tell Pete to put the spaceship in his car instead of the driver was great but Chloe resisted and moved to help Pete with the injured man. The walk back to the car felt ten times longer now that they were practically carrying and dragging the driver along. He wasn't too coherent but it did worry Chloe that she heard the word 'spaceship' more than once from the man's mouth. She knew they would have to figure out a way to move the ship, and move it soon before the man's loose lips gave anyone the motivation to look into the crash site.

Pete helped the man into the car and closed the door before looking over at Chloe and motioning her over to the trunk – far enough away from the disoriented man that their conversation wouldn't be overheard. "What are we going to do about the ship? The police will want to investigate the crash. I can say I don't remember where I found him but sooner or later they'll find the van."

Chloe hopped onto the trunk, crossing her skirt-clad legs as she nodded thoughtfully. "What we need to do is move the ship. Unfortunately even if we didn't have Mr. Crash Test Dummy here there'd be no way we could do it ourselves. Not only would it not fit in your car, that ship definitely weighs more than he does and we could barely get him to the car. I wish Clark was here."

"Clark! That's it," said Pete excitedly. "We can go by the Kent Farm in the morning and get Clark to borrow his dad's truck"

"That would work," Chloe agreed. She flashed Pete a smile and clasped her hands together. "Okay. New plan. Early tomorrow morning we meet up at Clark's and drive out with his dad's truck and pick up this outer space baby."

Pete looked surprised. "What about going to Lander's Field for your storm results? Wasn't that why we were out here?"

Chloe waved him off dismissively. "Are you kidding me, Pete? This spaceship is like the Mount Rushmore of Weird. Straight to the front page of the Daily Planet let alone the Torch. Everything else goes to the backburner."

"Never a dull moment in Smallville is there?" said Pete.

"And that's how I like it. Now help me go cover that thing," said Chloe, leaping down from the trunk and walking back through the path towards the spaceship picking up fallen cornstalks along the way. She stopped briefly to turn back to the trailing Pete. "And before I forget, you are so giving me an exclusive rescue interview for the Torch."

* * *

The next morning found Chloe sitting at the Kent breakfast table bright and early looking very chipper. Martha Kent seemed surprised to see her when she arrived at the Kents' backdoor but Chloe was nonetheless welcomed in and offered a seat while Mrs. Kent started on breakfast. Clark was still asleep and Mr. Kent was outside working on the farm so Chloe passed the time telling Martha about the misadventures of her cousin Lois Lane now that she didn't have to watch over her younger sister Lucy while living on the bases the General traveled to.

When Jonathan Kent walked into the house and saw Chloe, he only stopped for a moment before shaking his head and going about his morning routine of kissing Martha and heading upstairs to wash up. Chloe was just finishing off a story about Lois narrowly avoiding an international incident when she was caught in a less than desirable position with an assistant of a highly revered visiting diplomat when Mr. Kent returned downstairs, sitting down at the head of the table.

"Thank you, Martha," said Mr. Kent while accepting a hearty breakfast plate from his wife. As he poured himself a cup of coffee he eyed Chloe at the other end of the table nursing her own cup of coffee. "Not that you aren't always welcome, Chloe, but what brings you out to the farm this early on a Sunday?"

He startled Chloe, catching her in the middle of planning in her head what she was going to do with the spaceship she and Pete had found the night before. Before answering Mr. Kent she took a big swig from her cup of coffee and gathered her thoughts. "Well, something unexpected came up last night but it was too late to investigate. I was too excited to sleep very much."

Mrs. Kent laughed as she handed Chloe a small helping of breakfast. "I should have guessed it was your reporter instincts motivating the early start. Eyeing another front page for the Torch and need Clark's help?"

Chloe gave the older woman a guilty smile. "Am I that predictable?"

"It's more that we know you so well," said Mr. Kent warmly.

"And we love you for that, Chloe," said Mrs. Kent, patting Chloe on the shoulder. "It's wonderful that Clark is close with someone so goal-oriented and determined."

"I'm not taking him away from any work you need him to do today, am I?" said Chloe as she put down her fork and looked at the faces of both Kents. "Sometimes I just rush into things and forget that there's a whole world not revolving around what I do."

The Kents shared a knowing look with each other before Martha turned to answer Chloe. "Don't worry about it. Clark finished his chores yesterday and was planning on taking it easy today and complete his homework. Weren't you, Clark?"

Chloe turned in her seat and stared as her boyfriend walked slowly into the kitchen rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His long-sleeved blue plaid shirt was unbuttoned and revealed the white undershirt he wore underneath. It brought a smile to Chloe's face and was a great way to start the morning from her perspective.

"Wasn't I what, Mom?" said Clark as he took in his surroundings. He smiled when he noticed Chloe staring. "Hey, Chloe," He kissed her on the cheek and started buttoning up his shirt.

"I was telling Chloe that she could borrow you for the day since you had nothing planned," said Mrs. Kent, planting a kiss on her son's cheek and handing him a paper bag. "Here's a little breakfast to go since I figure Chloe is in a hurry this morning."

Clark looked puzzled but Chloe was on her feet at Mrs. Kent's cue. "That's right, Clark," said Chloe. "You just have to see what Pete and I found last night in Lander's Field. You won't believe it until you see it."

A car horn could be heard honking outside.

"That must be Pete," said Chloe, grabbing Clark's hand and pulling him towards the door. "Let's go get our Scooby on. Bye Mr. and Mrs. Kent! Thank you for breakfast."

Clark waved quickly at his parents and let Chloe pull him out the door, both of them missing the amused look on Martha and Jonathan's faces. Chloe and Clark rounded the corner of the house and found Pete leaning outside his car waiting for them to arrive.

"What took so long?" said Pete as they approached.

"Just this lug and his beauty sleep," said Chloe, patting Clark's chest.

Clark scratched his head. "What has you two in such a hurry?"

"There's not enough time," said Pete excitedly. "Come on, we need to borrow your dad's truck while we're at it."

"I'll explain on the way," said Chloe. "At least most of it; the surprise is the best part."

The three friends piled into Mr. Kent's red Dodge Ram pickup truck and Clark drove them away from the farm. Pete was clearly excited but stayed quiet while Chloe explained the circumstances around the previous night's discovery. They met very little traffic as they drove through Smallville; only the dedicated early birds were up and about so early on a Sunday. Chloe and Pete quickly recognized the stretch of road where the crash had occurred and pointed out to Clark where to pull the truck over at.

Pete insisted on leading the way through the cornstalks and even began humming a tune for dramatic effect. Chloe rolled her eyes but held Clark's elbow excitedly as they approached the area where the spaceship rested. The van came into sight and Chloe and Clark took a second to survey the crash. For Clark it was his first time seeing it and for Chloe, she hadn't been paying much attention because of the spaceship distraction.

Their delay didn't stop Pete's progress and they soon heard rustling just ahead of them. Chloe assumed Pete wasn't waiting for them and she tugged on Clark's elbow to indicate they should keep going. Clark nodded and they left the wrecked van alone. They moved on through the final rows of cornstalks and Chloe's hunch was confirmed as they found Pete on the other side pushing away the fallen crops he and Chloe had put on top of the ship to hide it.

Chloe let go of Clark and quickly moved over to the spaceship. It was still covered by a dark blanket she had thought to use from Pete's car. She put her hands on the blanket and eagerly looked up at Clark's face wanting to see his reaction at their discovery. "Get ready to have your whole world turned upside down, Clark," she said with a smile before yanking the blanket off and revealing the spaceship.

"Pretty mind-blowing, huh," said Pete with his eyes glued to the spaceship, eagerly soaking up the vision of the ship in daylight compared to the poor view he had from the van's headlights the previous night.

He wasn't looking at Clark at the time of the reveal but Chloe had been, and she found herself surprised when in all of the emotions that showed on Clark's face that a moment of dread shined through. He quickly covered it though.

"What do you think it is?" said Clark in a measured tone.

Chloe's eyebrows shot up at Clark's question as she was pretty sure he and anyone else who would see this ship would know what it was at first sight, but Pete, in all his excitement didn't interpret Clark's leading question like she did.

"Oh, Clark!" said Pete laughing. "It's a spaceship. What the hell else would it be?"

Clark approached the ship and crouched near it to inspect it closer. "I thought maybe it could be a downed military aircraft or a foreign satellite."

"I think Smallville would be the last place a foreign nation would have a satellite anywhere near and if this was military made I'd have heard about it," said Chloe, slightly disappointed that Clark wasn't more excited about the spaceship. "I do have a contact."

Clark gave her a dubious look. "Lois does not count. I doubt your uncle is letting her anywhere near anything that would be considered this level of top secret technology."

"You'd be surprised what Lois can find out about when she puts her mind to it," said Chloe in defense of her cousin.

Pete interrupted the growing argument. "Besides, this puppy has extra-terrestrial written all over it."

Clark quickly became sarcastic. "Yeah and I bet there's little green guys running around in the cornfield too, Pete."

"I'm serious, Clark, have _you _ever seen anything like it?" said Pete.

Clark refused to back down. "If aliens came to Earth, don't you think they'd pick somewhere a little more exciting than Smallville?"

Pete had an answer for that too. "No, no, think about it, Clark. Crop circles, cattle mutilation–" Chloe pulled a face at that. "They would be like kids in a candy store."

Chloe jumped in before Clark could reply. "As crazy as Pete sounds – and I hope you haven't been searching for cattle mutilation on the Torch computers – he has a point Clark. This spaceship–"

"UFO," said Clark, interrupting her.

"Fine," Chloe sighed, patting the spaceship. "This possible _unidentified flying object_ that we have here is clearly made of some alloy I've never seen before. It could be a rare element which would go along with your secret tech theory or it could be from out of this world which would prove me and Pete right. Either way we need to get this out of here before anyone else gets wind of it and breaks the story before I can."

"Yeah," said Pete, moving to grab a hold of the spaceship. "Come on; let's load it into the truck."

Clark seemed hesitant. "Wait, we're not just going to take it are we?"

"Even if this belonged to someone else Clark, we're not going to find out until we have a look at it," said Chloe patiently. "And we don't have time to look at it out here with the sheriff bound to be searching for the van sometime today. I don't think I need to tell you that they won't be as careful with the ship as I can be." She gave her best doe-eyed look to convince Clark of her sincerity.

Pete rolled his eyes but Clark finally agreed to help. "Alright, fine. We can take it to my house."

That stopped Pete in his tracks. "No, no, no, Clark. I know your dad; he'd make us turn it into authorities."

"I won't even tell him. He won't know it's there," Clark argued.

"Clark," said Pete. "We're taking it to my house. We can hide it in the tool shed in the back of the house; no one ever goes back there."

Clark stood up and towered over Pete. "My house would be perfect, it'll be safe there."

"Whoa, whoa there boys," said Chloe, moving between the two friends. "As fond as I am of the macho testosterone act, both of you need to lighten up." She first turned towards Pete. "Pete, the reason no one goes back to your tool shed is because that place still stinks from the time you and Clark tried to prank your brothers with that pile of manure only to have them dump you two in it. I have no desire to spend anytime near that shed."

Chloe then turned towards Clark and her stern look wiped the growing smile from his face. "And Clark, you're acting a little over possessive about something _Pete and I_ found and decided to bring you in on because we're all friends and we _don't_ keep secrets from each other." She moved closer and brought her hand to Clark's cheek. "Now I was hoping you'd be more excited about me finding something amazing like this but in any case, need I remind you boys that I am the resident expert in everything weird and this spaceship will be coming home with _me_."

Both boys looked stunned but at Chloe's raised eyebrow they immediately began working on moving the spaceship. Feeling victorious, Chloe put her hands on her hips and watched them at work.

"Come on, boys," Chloe cheered with a clap of her hands. "Let's get this baby home before sundown. This article isn't going to write itself."

* * *

Unfortunately for Chloe, even hours after driving the spaceship back to her house and hiding it under a tarp in the carport she had not come any closer to unlocking the ship's secrets. After she had taken a multitude of photos, Pete spent significant time trying to open the ship with various tools he'd grabbed from his house. The crowbar could not pry an inch of movement and although the hammer made a grating sound to Chloe's ears it did not affect the ship. In fact, it continued to look untouched.

Clark, still acting strangely, made his excuses once they had brought their cars back to her house from the Kent Farm and left without even a goodbye kiss. Chloe acted unfazed for the sake of Pete's presence, but inside she was the exact opposite with a strange feeling in her gut and dozens of observations from the day floating around in her head.

Instead of dwelling on her boyfriend's sudden shift in moods, Chloe focused on the tasks at hand. Since the spaceship was being stubborn, she convinced Pete to give it a rest and sit down for the rescue interview she had wanted for Monday's edition of the Torch. The lack of success on the spaceship made Pete a very willing participant to be interviewed and Chloe was sure that her friend would not be lacking girls eager to date him once the piece hit the school.

After the interview was done with Pete had to leave and her dad had finally come home from a LuthorCorp weekend management training seminar so Chloe moved the old red Ford Falcon she shared with her dad into the carport to further hide the spaceship. Gabe Sullivan was already well-versed in his daughter's weird hobbies after suffering a few mishaps from being too curious over the years and now knew just to ignore anything Chloe had set as off limits.

Much to her dad's dismay, Chloe spent most of the rest of the fading day on her computer looking for any lead she could find on the spaceship. She uploaded the photos to her computer and ran several image comparison programs she had to try to find anything similar on the internet. Most of the results brought up images from science fiction movies but nothing substantive.

Chloe then visited some trusted chat rooms, forums and user groups and sent out a creatively cropped image of the spaceship to see if anyone could recognize the ship or what it was made of but again came away with no results. The ship was quickly becoming an impossible mystery to even attempt to solve without any lead or progress and Chloe refused to print a speculative article with only images to support her claims. It would be no better than the tabloids she refused to acknowledge as journalism.

Disappointed by the lack of results and distressed that her research had taken her late into the night Chloe was happily interrupted by a phone call from her cousin Lois. It gave her an opportunity to forget her frustrating day and devolve into more fun topics like girl talk.

Chloe soon found herself sitting on the kitchen counter in the dark wearing her pajamas and talking to Lois on the phone like she was right there with her for a girls' night. Her cousin however was just as observant as Chloe and after a few minutes of conversation determined that she was not her usual peppy self.

"Give it up, Cuz," said Lois. "I can tell that something is amiss. Why is my usually sunny Sullivan experiencing storm clouds? I thought that farm boy of yours was being a proper boy scout and always keeping you happy."

"I don't think female joy is high on the priority list of boy scouts, Lois," said Chloe with a small smile.

"It is with all the boy scouts _I've_ run into," said Lois sweetly.

"And Clark, has been fine – I mean, he was strange today but I think one day of strangeness after months of bliss is nothing to go crazy about right?" said Chloe uncertainly.

"Well you do have a fondness for the weird, Chlo," said Lois. "What happened today that caused your knight in shining flannel to freak?"

Chloe hesitated, trying to decide what she could reveal to her cousin. "If you were here, Lo, I'd be telling you everything, but you know how _secure_ lines on the base can be."

"Wow. If it's even remotely on that level, maybe Clarkie had reason to freak. Is it dangerous?" Lois asked.

"No one else knows about it but me, Clark and Pete. And it's well hidden," Chloe explained. "This is potential DP front page material but I'm having no luck and little help. Clark bailed on me and it was like last year all over again, back before we were dating, no explanation – just gone."

"Maybe he recognized whatever you found and went to find out more about it?" Lois offered. "You've said he was flaky at times in the past, but I can't think of why he wouldn't want to help you."

"Maybe," said Chloe, not wanting to think bad about Clark. "I'm sure it's just a coincidence that ..."

Chloe trailed off and dropped the phone from her ear the moment she saw a flash of headlights pass by the kitchen window. After a few moments of silence, Lois piped up.

"It's a coincidence that what? Hello? Chloe? Are you there?"

Chloe heard her cousin's rising voice and quickly returned the phone to her ear. "Sorry, Lois," she apologized. "But I just saw car lights outside and need to check it out."

"Chloe! Don't you know most horror movies start out that way and they never end well!"

Chloe frowned. "That was the last thing I wanted to hear right now, Lois."

"Well, be careful and take something you can use as a weapon with you," said Lois, slightly chagrined. "Oh, and stay on the phone with me so I can send help if you need it."

"This is Smallville, Lois, not the Hood. I'm sure it's nothing," said Chloe reassuring her cousin while inwardly fond of Lois' protective instincts.

Noise from the side of the house where the carport was heightened Chloe's sense of alarm and she quickly grabbed a wooden broom from the closet. Chloe held the phone in one hand and the broom in the other as she moved around in the darkened house. The noise outside was faint enough that her dad wouldn't be awoken and the only reason she noticed was because she was up and had seen the flash of light in the windows.

The sounds of an engine starting up pushed Chloe into motion and she slipped out the back door quietly, making her way towards the carport. There was a little gap in the wall of the carport and the house and Chloe used it to gain a view of what was going on. What she saw made her gasp.

The tarp that was covering the spaceship was lying on the ground with no spaceship anywhere near it. Shadows moving around further down the carport gained her attention and Chloe shifted lower to get a better perspective. The back end of a pickup truck came into view and she could vaguely see a covered shape sitting in the bed. Chloe didn't have to think hard to guess that the shape belonged to her spaceship.

She debated about making a move to stop the thief but what Chloe saw next made any notion of action disappear from her mind. The passenger side door of the truck opened and a shadowy figure emerged to take one final look at the truck bed. It was then that the dim lights of the carport hit the figure at an angle and Chloe gained a glimpse of a blue jacket and a plaid shirt. The figure went back into the truck and the vehicle moved away from the carport and Chloe's house but the damage was already done.

"Clark?" said Chloe in disbelief, dropping to her knees – the phone and broom falling out of her hands forgotten.

The build, the clothes, and the strange behavior earlier that day – things began to fall into place. Her boyfriend and best friend had just stolen the spaceship!


	6. Chapter 6: Endure

Author's Note: Thank you to shonnia22, dizzy78, dispatcher652, megamom2, The Fallen Sky, Jedwar, roshane, whatweareafreaidof, Jeremy Shane, badboys8520, Twylyte for your reviews. I appreciate the support and apologize that the delay in writing this chapter left everyone on that cliffhanger. Enjoy the chapter and expect another one in a few days. - ES (10/30/10)

**Chapter Six – Endure**

For Chloe, Monday morning brought with it confirmation that the spaceship theft she had witnessed previous night had not been a twisted dream from her psyche and that there was no miracle explanation to be found that revealed why Clark would do something so underhanded as stealing from her behind her back.

Getting through the day brought its own set of problems, including the fact that Chloe and Clark generally are around each other constantly while at school but Chloe made sure to brush off his attention early in the day, making excuses of a deadline at the Torch that would keep her busy; the deadline was true, but she used it to her advantage since Clark did not know she had already decided to use Pete's rescue interview to fill that need. That left Chloe with some time to herself to decide how she was going to handle Clark's actions and if she was going to confront him about it.

That cut down their interactions with each other to the classes they had together and Chloe limited herself to flashing Clark a quick forced smile before sitting down away from him, either next to Lana or another friend that she had in the class. Chloe knew the distance she put between herself and Clark would give away that she was upset, but his faux-innocent act that morning when he had asked about her progress on the spaceship made her so angry that it took all of her will not to go off on him right there in the school hallway.

Instead, she used her ever-growing instincts as a reporter to not reveal anything and respond nonchalantly to Clark at the time before scurrying off to her sanctuary a few rooms away, the classroom that was home to the Smallville Torch. Her fluctuating emotions thanks to Clark were driving Chloe crazy but luckily Clark smartly stayed away from her domain the entire day.

Eventually she put aside her Clark problems and was able to focus on preparing the next issue of the Torch for print. Before she knew it, the school day was over and through the windows of the Torch the sun could be seen setting across Smallville. Chloe was so in her element that she did not notice she was no longer alone until the newcomer broke the comfortable silence of the room.

"Nice picture of Pete."

The voice came from over her shoulder, startling Chloe into jumping in her seat. She swiveled her chair around to find a smiling Lex Luthor standing behind her holding a coffee cup and small paper bag from the Talon in his hands.

"Did Clark send you?" she asked.

"I come in peace with caffeine and croissants," said Lex. He held his hands up in deference, waving the bag in front of Chloe until she snatched both it and the coffee out of his hands.

Finally letting herself feel fatigued, Chloe gratefully sipped the coffee. "Thanks," she said, flashing her first true smile of the day up at Lex.

"Seeing that smile made the trip worth it," replied Lex smoothly. "Any chance I can help solve whatever the problem is that has Clark doing chores into the night back at the Kent Farm instead of spending time with his Girl Friday who herself is busy slaving away at her computer here alone in a very empty Smallville High?"

Chloe glanced away from Lex, picking at the croissant she had chosen. "I'd rather not talk about Clark right now, Lex. There is a conversation in our upcoming future that I am not looking forward to."

Lex surprised Chloe by crouching next to her and grasping her croissant-filled hand. "I hope you know that I don't consider Clark my only good friend in Smallville. If you need me I'm there for you too."

"I appreciate that, Lex, but I'm a big girl. It takes more than a little fight with Clark to rattle my cage," said Chloe, turning back to her computer and casually wiping her suddenly wet eyes with the back of her hand.

Lex stood up and politely took his time to look around the classroom. "So I noticed not seeing anyone else on my way in; it left me wondering how a sophomore ended up with the carte blanche to run the school paper unsupervised into the night?"

Chloe blushed at the implication but was grateful for the change of subject. "Well, originally the Torch editor would have to get the room key from the sponsoring teacher but before I arrived last year a school paper wasn't high on Smallville High's priority list; so the teacher requirement was skipped on a trial basis until my effort and dedication proved I didn't need one."

"Impressive," said Lex, his finger hovering near the Time magazine cover featuring Lana as a young girl that was pinned on Chloe's Wall of Weird.

"I tend to exceed expectations on a daily basis," said Chloe proudly. "But to finish answering your question, with no teacher sponsor I would just pick up the keys from the school office after school and stay until Principal Kwan would come by to say he was leaving for the day and that it was time close up. Then that accident last spring killed him and the school has only had temp principals since. Dealing with new authority figures on a daily basis was not something I wanted so I just didn't return the keys and no one seems to care that I kept them instead."

Lex smiled and walked back to Chloe's desk. "I never liked going through red tape either," he said, pulling out a few sheets of paper from inside his coat. "That's why I was hoping you could help me find something I'm missing. It's an octagonal disc."

Chloe looked at the papers Lex handed her. On them were several crudely drawn sketches of an octagonal disc. "Art is not one of your best skills, huh?"

"Being an artist was not an encouraged career goal at Excelsior," said Lex with a laugh. "Still, it's pretty impossible to get an eight-sided disc wrong right?"

Chloe held the papers up, looking at the sketches at different angles. "You would think that ..."

"This must be that wit Clark is so fond of," said Lex dryly. "Back to the disc, can you help?"

"I'll try but this seems like a very generic object. What is so special about it that you would look for my help?" asked Chloe.

Lex's brief hesitation did not escape Chloe's notice. "It was mostly a paperweight on my desk for a brief time but then it disappeared during the storm. The reason I'm looking for it is that there were etchings on the disc that so far no one I've consulted knows of a language it might be or what material the disc might be made of."

Chloe's eyebrows slowly rose as her interest in the missing mysterious disc grew. "Ah, the weird and unexplained, I see my reputation precedes me." Reaching over to turn on her scanner, her hand was stopped by Lex.

"Yes, your reputation as someone who finds ways to get to the truth others can't," said Lex. "I'll be the first to admit that some of my methods can be less virtuous than Clark may think myself capable of but I am trying to become a better man than my father and this is a step in that direction. I trust Clark and Clark trusts you; so then I trust you, Chloe Sullivan."

Lex's sudden bout of soul-baring honesty stunned Chloe into silence, which did not help for appearance sake when the moment was broken by an equally surprised Lana Lang.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" asked Lana.

Chloe and Lex's heads snapped toward the doorway where Lana stood watching them. Chloe jerked her hand free from Lex's grasp before clearing her throat and moving her hands back to the safety of her keyboard. "Nothing earth-shattering, Lana. Please come in, Lex just came by because Clark asked him to check up on me and he was just about to leave."

"Are you sure?" said Lana, staring at Lex.

Lex smiled while adjusting his coat. "It's fine, Lana. I did my duty for Clark and should be getting back to my father now. I'm sure he's missing me."

Chloe watched as he passed Lana before stopping at the doorway to glance back her way. "You'll let me know if you find anything?"

Shuffling the papers he had given her together into a folder to deal with at a later time when she was alone again, Chloe nodded. "I'll email you the moment anything turns up."

Lex nodded and left with a wave to Lana, leaving Chloe alone with a curious girl. "What was all that about?" asked Lana.

Chloe sighed before waving Lana towards the chair next to her. "Nothing, really. The Torch just seems to be the place tonight for members of the Clark Kent fan club."

Lana looked surprised at Chloe. "You make it sound like that's not a good thing," she said. "Is that why Clark asked Lex to stop by? I certainly didn't expect to walk in on you two having a moment."

"We were _not_ having a moment," denied Chloe. "And like I said to Lex, I'd prefer it if Clark was not a topic of conversation tonight if you don't mind."

"Believe me, I'm so tired of dealing with relationships lately that I think I can refrain from prying for at least tonight," admitted Lana. "I just had to get out of the house. Ever since Nell met Dean the insurance adjuster after the tornado it has been hard to avoid their dating rituals."

"Gush-fest?" asked Chloe.

"At times," said Lana. "Other times they're bickering like an old married couple. Two extremes with no in-between and I can't stand it."

"I guess I should be glad my dad never tried jumping into the dating scene again after my mom left," said Chloe soberly.

"Don't get me wrong, I want Nell to be happy, but she's like a schoolgirl again with Dean seeming to occupy her every thought now," replied Lana. "I spend more time away from home these days just to avoid any awkward moments with them. That reminds me, I might have mentioned to Nell that I stayed over at your house last night for a sleepover."

That surprised Chloe. "I had a pretty eventful night last night but I'm pretty sure I don't remember seeing you there. Where did you go?" she asked.

Lana blushed and looked down. "Oh, I didn't want to bother you or your dad so I just crashed in one of the booths at the Talon."

"Not exactly ideal, huh," commented Chloe. "You know, next time you don't have to lie. You can stay at my house for real, any time."

Lana broke out a wide smile. "Really, Chloe? That would be wonderful."

Chloe shrugged back. "Hey, what are friends for? I take it the reason you're here then is that Nell and her gentleman caller are having one of those 'moments' back at your place?"

"Yes," Lana sighed. "And the Talon lacks a certain comfort at night when it's dark and empty. If this keeps up I might just have to renovate that upstairs studio into an emergency bedroom for myself."

"Nonsense," said Chloe, dismissively waving her hand. "You'll just become a regular at Casa Del Sullivan. Let me save my work and close up the Torch and we'll head home to a relationship-free zone complete with mugs of hot chocolate that have our names on them."

Confident she was not going to get any more work done, Chloe shut down her computer and slipped on the large beige overcoat that used to be Clark's coat but he had left it at her place one time and she had since claimed it as her own. It dwarfed her due to her size compared to Clark but it kept her warm and whenever she had it on she swore she can still smell him on it. It brought her a comfort that she definitely needed at the moment.

Talking about current relationship dramas made Chloe think of Lana's own beau and current long-distance relationship. "At least with Whitney overseas you don't have to experience the same ups and downs of a relationship anymore," commented Chloe offhandedly.

When Lana didn't reply, Chloe turned to her friend and noticed for the first time that night Lana's sad eyes. "The Lang-Fordman ship is still smooth sailing, right?" she asked.

"It ran aground awhile ago," confessed Lana. "Remember that tape of video messages I had everyone make for Whitney a few weeks back? Well, when my turn to record a message came I had to say what I felt and a long distance relationship at fifteen to an eighteen-year-old fighting a war thousands of miles away is something I just can't handle, right now or ever I imagine."

"Oh, Lana," said Chloe softly, pulling her friend into a hug. "I can't imagine how you haven't gone crazy with all this silly relationship business running rampant around you. Here I've been so wrapped up with the good and bad of my relationship with Clark that I didn't notice you were hurting."

After accepting a few moments of comfort, Lana pulled back and put her hands on Chloe's shoulders. "I'm hurting Chloe, but I will get over the loss and move on eventually. It took me awhile to realize that what I felt for Whitney was puppy love and not something more like you and Clark have. Watching the way the two of you light up and come alive in each other's presence, it's magical, Chloe and that's why you need to get past whatever is bothering you about him. He's going to be a good man, just like his dad. I can tell."

"I used to think that way without a doubt," said Chloe honestly, finally opening up to her friend. "But sometimes those we are closest to can surprise you in the worst ways."

"Did Clark do something wrong?" asked Lana.

Chloe sighed. "I don't know what I saw, but it's hard not to think the worst."

"Then there's only one thing left for you to do," said Lana solemnly, wrapping her arm around Chloe. "Tell him the truth, Chloe. He cares for you as a friend and girlfriend but you need to make sure he respects you as an equal partner in your relationship."

Lana handed Chloe her messenger bag and led her out of the Torch while Chloe thought about what she said. What Lana said made sense to her but Lana was not finished dispensing advice. She had one last thing to say on the subject as they walked through the dimly lit empty parking lot of Smallville High towards Chloe's car.

"Confront Clark because hiding the truth only keeps people apart."

* * *

Chloe knew the next time she saw Clark again it would be sooner than later and when the sun rose on Tuesday morning along with it came said boyfriend knocking on her front door. Thankfully her dad had already left for work and would not be around to contribute to the awkwardness that was bound to surround the conversation she and Clark were about to have.

Butterflies in her stomach aside, Chloe made the decision that morning to wear a light red blouse with a plunging neckline that showed off the little cleavage she did have in hopes of reminding Clark of her feminine wiles while at the same time she had her reporter face on to show her resolve when she opened the door to greet Clark.

"Hey, Chloe," said Clark, flashing his trademark smile at her before his eyes darted down to take in her choice of attire.

"Eyes up here, Farm Boy," said Chloe amusedly. "You are not on my good side right now."

Clark's eyes snapped up to meet hers, and he flinched at the seriousness of her gaze. He started to open his mouth to reply but it shut just as quickly as he seemed to rethink his approach. "I know you're avoiding me for some reason that I don't understand–"

"You don't understand?" snapped Chloe, interrupting him. "I know I can be a lot of things to you, Clark, but I didn't think an idiot was one of them. I saw you."

"Saw me?" asked Clark, confused. "Chloe, you've been avoiding me since the ..."

"The word you are looking for is spaceship, Clark. You can't even finish your lie that I'm sure you cleverly thought up because _even_ you don't believe it!"

"That's not true, Chloe," said Clark with a frown. "The spaceship has nothing to do with this."

"Nothing?" asked Chloe. "Then why haven't you stopped by for an update on the spaceship since you left in a rush on Sunday?"

Clark stood his ground under Chloe's verbal assault but there was no doubt that the nearly one foot shorter Chloe was a very intimidating presence at the moment. "I'm not … a big space fan," he finished lamely.

"So I guess I've been boring you this whole time with my date ideas?" she said icily.

Chloe angrily tried to slam the door shut in his face but Clark's quick hands prevented her from doing so. Instead Chloe let go of the door and retreated further into the house.

"I guess we are not as compatible as I thought," said Chloe, her eyes landing on a photograph of them from Spring Formal sitting on the mantle. "Maybe we should have stayed just friends."

"Don't say that, Chloe, we can get past this," said Clark, placing his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her but Chloe stiffened under his touch.

"I don't know if we can," said Chloe, staring off at a bare spot of the wall just above the photograph. "I saw you, Clark. Sunday night in the carport just outside. And the spaceship was gone."

She couldn't see Clark shaking his head in denial. "That's not–"

"Don't lie to me, Clark. I was still awake, on the phone with Lois when you came by. I saw your dad's truck, and you get in it." Turning around, Chloe looked up into his eyes. "Why did you do it? Steal the ship and act like nothing happened. I probably would have let you taken it to your barn if you asked. You mean more to me than some strange object but you don't seem to feel that way about me. Why, Clark? What was so fascinating about the ship that you would just take it like that behind my back?"

Clark's shoulders sagged and he dropped his head. "I can't explain Chloe. It's not something I take lightly."

Chloe pulled away from Clark. "Then, I think you should go and not come back expecting anything more than friendship and maybe not even that because lies and deceit are not things _I_ take lightly in a friendship let alone a relationship."

Looking sadly at Clark one last time, Chloe turned and ran out of the room, wiping the tears falling down her cheeks with her hands. Her heart hurt and so did her head. It felt like a part of her had been ripped out and she would never be whole again.

And what she had imagined would be the best week ever after the discovery of the spaceship had quickly become the worst week of Chloe Sullivan's life.


	7. Chapter 7: Virtue

Author's Note: Thanks to Kairan1979, dispatcher652, Madlenita, roshane, badboys8520, The Fallen Sky, whatweareafreaidof, Jeremy Shane, Mrs. Kauhn, dizzy78, Titanium Gold, badkidoh, Kessi38, jock wizard for your feedback and support. Apologies for the delay, I was inspired from the comments for last chapter to tweak this chapter in ways that I hope will make future chapters much more interesting than I had even planned. Trying to plant seeds in each chapter for different plots/characters. Enjoy the chapter! - ES (1/24/11)

**Chapter Seven – Virtue**

Her head was pounding, her heart was hurting, her ears were ringing and her eyes were wet from the tears streaming down her cheeks but Chloe Sullivan continued to bravely walk away from the boy of her dreams. Technically it was less of a walk and more of a blind stumble through her home towards the safety of her bedroom and it was not so much bravery pushing her but an attempt to preserve her dignity so that she could make it there before completely falling apart much like her life had just moments before.

She never thought Clark Kent could ever cause such pain. The risk in having a relationship was always there - a reason why some friends never make that leap to being more than friends - but Chloe had thought she would be safe to trust her best friend, Clark, with her heart. Leave it to the farm boy to prove her wrong again, this time however in the worst possible way.

Crossing the threshold of her room, Chloe pushed the door open and collapsed onto her bed, sobbing quietly into her pillow. She knew Clark was probably still in the house but she hoped Clark would get the hint eventually and leave soon. At the moment, Chloe didn't think she would ever want to see Clark Kent's blue eyes looking on her again.

The idea did pop into her head that maybe her dad would be open to making a permanent move back to Metropolis. The last place Chloe wanted to be right now was anywhere near the boy who had stolen her heart years ago and now finally managed to break it.

Clutching her pillow, Chloe wished the world would just fade away and leave her alone, but when the knocking on her bedroom door started she had a feeling that would not be happening any time soon.

"Go away, Clark," said Chloe, her teary voice slightly muffled by her pillow. "I want to be alone."

After that, the knocking stopped without complaint causing Chloe's head to rise from the pillow. It was so unlike Clark to give in so easily but she still listened intently for the hope of hearing Clark's footsteps leaving her doorway, but they never came. Several minutes passed without any sound of movement but Chloe knew it was not an empty hallway on the other side of her door, he was still there waiting for her.

"Please leave. I'm not going to change my mind," she whispered.

Clark's voice sounded pained. "I can't, Chloe. Not today."

Anger began to stir in Chloe's stomach. Clark's inconsiderate insistence was creating horrible feelings inside of her that she did not like. Desperate to make her point, Chloe reached across her nightstand and grabbed her alarm clock, hurling it across the room where it collided against her bedroom door.

_CLANG_.

"Leave me alone!"

Her actions seemed to finally stir movement on the other side of the door; Clark moved away from the door and Chloe sniffled satisfyingly but to her dismay her guess that he was leaving was proven wrong. Clark had moved, but only so that he could sit down with his back against her door. He clearly was not planning on going anywhere anytime soon. His next words surprised her.

"I need your help, Chloe."

Chloe blinked. She did not believe her ears. Either Clark had already moved on from their breakup in a superhuman fashion or he did not think her feelings were important enough to consider before asking something of her. Chloe did not know which was worse: that she was not even worth a few hours of moodiness on Clark's part or that he had a strange sense of priorities that could explain a lot about his inconsistent decisions.

Sighing, Chloe sat up on her elbows. "Dating 101, Clark. Asking for help right after you break up is a not the smartest move. I wish you would go already, I really have nothing else to say to you. Maybe Pete will help you, I doubt you could break his heart."

"Chloe, you've been my best friend for years and I hope that doesn't change today, tomorrow, or ever. No matter the differences we have right now, we are similar in many ways. One of those ways is our selfless nature when it comes to our friends. The help isn't for me, it's for Pete. I'm worried he might be in trouble."

Chloe shook her head. "I don't want to think about us right now, Clark, so much has happened but - wait - what happened to Pete and why didn't you say something sooner?"

"He's why I originally came over to see you in the first place, but then our talk happened," said Clark, the sound of his movements outside the door indicating that he was now standing.

Chloe's heart clenched at the realization that Clark had not come over to fix things between them but she pushed aside her hurt feelings to think of the other - and now maybe only - best friend in her life. "Is Pete in danger?" she asked.

"I don't know for sure. That's why I came over to ask if you had seen or heard from him. His mom called my parents this morning, apparently he's been missing since sometime last night."

Chloe leapt from her bed and moved to her vintage vanity that her father had bought her when she was a child, shortly after her mother had left them. It was overrun with photos, stacks of paperwork, files and notebooks.

"You should have lead with that information, Clark. Do you think it's connected to the spaceship? What am I saying? Of course you do, or else you wouldn't have come to me." She let out a shaky breath and looked back at her bedroom door. "Am I right?"

Clark's hesitated and that was enough for Chloe. Her gaze never wavered as she wondered just how naive and clueless was the boy on the other side. Shrugging, Chloe returned to her search of the files in front of her. When Clark finally spoke up, his voice was not as strong as before and Chloe figured he was slowly realizing how she was feeling at the moment.

"I'm really sorry, Chloe. Someday I hope you can forgive me, but we need to find Pete right now. If his disappearance is because of the spaceship then we should be able to find a lead. You two discovered it, and brought me into the fold. As far as we know we are the only ones that know about it, outside of possibly that driver you mentioned being run off the road that night that led to your discovery ... if he saw it too he might have mentioned something and someone might have have gone looking for the spaceship."

Chloe nodded thoughtfully, following Clark's line of logic. "And they would have found Pete since he was the one who admitted the driver to Smallville Medical Center while I waited in the car." She flipped through the files in her hand and pulled out a form. "Oh god, how did I miss this?"

"What is it?" said Clark through the door, moving to open the bedroom door.

Eager to avoid seeing Clark, Chloe moved and put herself against the door to keep him from entering. Only his boot in the doorway kept the door from closing.

"Chloe ..."

"I know, I know," she said hastily. "Can you just understand that I don't need to look at you to help?"

"That's fair I guess," answered Clark. "But can I see the hospital's visitor log now?"

"Oh! Yeah, of course," said Chloe, handing the form over between the gap. "I was looking into Ray Wallace - the driver from that night - after hearing from a source that he had suddenly died Sunday night. I was in the middle of looking at this file when Lois calling and your visit to my carport sidetracked me. Turns out he had a visitor drop by right before he flatlined that kicks the weird-o-meter up another notch. A certain Dr. Steven Hamilton."

"The meteor freak?" said Clark. "I thought he left Smallville."

"So did I," said Chloe, grimly. "It could be a coincidence but he might be involved. Pete saves the day. Hamilton visits the patient-"

"Patient dies and Pete disappears," finished Clark.

"It's not exactly a smoking gun but ..."

"It's good enough," said Clark determinedly. "I'm going to go check out Hamilton."

"Okay," said Chloe, looking down at the file in her hands. "Well, you know he used to have a place down Allentown Road. Maybe he's back there."

She blinked and the folder she was looking at suddenly had the form she had just handed to Clark moments before. Before Chloe could react the door behind her shook and slammed shut causing her to lose her balance and fall back against it. Wincing, Chloe yanked opened the door to yell at Clark, her sudden need to vent overriding her previous wishes not to see him.

"What the hell, Clark? And how did you do that with the visitor log? Or know that it was a visitor log I was looking at in the first place?" yelled Chloe.

When no response came, she opened her eyes that she had shut in anger and found herself faced with an empty hallway and no trace of the tall, dark, farm boy.

"Clark? CLARK?"

She had no way of knowing Clark was already on his way to confront Hamilton, but like most things when it came to Clark, Chloe was quickly learning she did not know as much as she thought.

* * *

The school day was a blur for Chloe, and she practically sleepwalked through the day. No one commented on her appearance - which after the morning breakup with Clark was not up to her usual style - but she did notice more than a few inquiring glances that she dutifully ignored.

One person she was grateful to have the attention of was Lana. Lana seemed to know that Chloe was not alright and instead of pestering her, she was a friendly shoulder to lean on. During their classes together, Chloe clung to her like she was her only lifeline.

Lana's constant presence also was helpful when it came to explaining Clark and Pete's absence from classes. Despite the emotional turmoil Chloe was currently experiencing because of Clark, it did not change the fact that he was most likely risking his life at that moment to save their friend. Making excuses for Clark was nothing new for Chloe but she was not her usual sharp self and thankfully Lana caught on soon enough to pick up the slack.

Every teacher that needed an explanation accepted their answers without any question. After all, who would not believe two of the most wholesome girls in Smallville? Chloe as the editor of the Smallville Torch, and Lana helping run the revitalized Talon coffeehouse gave them a legitimate background in responsibility. It also did not hurt that they were talking about Clark Kent, who's well-mannered and giving nature was just as widely known by everyone in Smallville.

After the final bell rang at Smallville High Lana had tried to persuade Chloe into joining her at the Talon for a cup of coffee and a friendly ear to listen to her problems but Chloe politely declined, feigning tiredness and claiming she was just going to head home and get some sleep.

She dropped Lana off in front Nell's flower shop right next to the Talon, squeezing her friend's hand in thanks before she got out and giving a final wave before driving away down Main Street. Chloe's intent was to make her way home and indulge in a tub of Rocky Road ice cream but before she knew it she found herself approaching the Kent Farm.

From a glance she saw Mr. Kent's truck parked near the house but with no activity in sight Chloe assumed that Clark and Pete had not arrived yet or were in the barn and that the Kents were inside. Not feeling like talking to the Kents, she parked her red Ford Falcon just outside the farm entrance and walked the rest of the way up to the barn.

With her hands in the pockets of her zipped up purple jacket, Chloe determinedly trudged inside the barn ready to face Clark but instead found it and the loft empty. Realizing the boys were not back sent a shiver of worry down her spine but she kept busy and left the barn as quickly as she had entered it. Resisting the urge to search for the spaceship - she was not going to act like Clark had - Chloe decided to take a walk along the Kent Farm property, hoping to keep her mind off worrying whether Clark was going to be successful in finding Pete or if he was about to disappear as well.

She had made her way out to the grain silo and was having no luck clearing her mind. It was still buzzing with ideas and theories on why Clark had acted the way he had the last few days, but she was adamant in not letting herself explain away for Clark and let him off the hook. Doubling back, Chloe went off the walking path and made her way through the fields instead, walking amongst the cattle and crops to save time but she slowed when she came upon raised voices.

Partially hidden from view, Chloe crept closer towards the voices until their owners came into sight. She found that the voices belonged to Clark's father, Jonathan Kent and Lana's aunt, Nell Potter. They were in a heated discussion and were unaware that the volume of their voices had risen enough to carry a distance nor that they now had a spectator within that distance. Chloe leaned closer and tried to listen in.

"This isn't high school anymore," said a frustrated Mr. Kent. "I'm happy that you have someone in your life, Nell, but I am not about to get jealous because of it."

Nell visibly bristled. "It was just a question, Jonathan," she replied defensively. "Being proposed to is a big deal and I couldn't help but think about the mistakes I've made in the past and what might have been. Don't you ever wonder how it would have been if we had stayed together?"

"That was a long time ago, and I am happily married. Have been since I walked down that aisle."

"How can you be happy with someone that can't give you the family you deserve?" asked Nell. "I remember your parents, Johnny, they hoped that you would have a bigger family than they had been able to afford. Clark is a good boy but being an only child is a lonely existence. I see it in him and Lana as they've grown up into teenagers. I've done my best with Lana but you can't deny that they would have had better childhoods growing up as brother and sister with maybe a few others running around for them to watch over."

Mr. Kent hesitated. "Nell ..."

"I'm not asking you to cheat, Jonathan," said Nell softly. "I just want to know if there is still something somewhere inside of you that thinks of me fondly or if I should stop waiting for you. Before that damn meteor shower I thought we had a chance but then Clark came into your life and Lana's parents ..."

"You will always be my high school sweetheart, but sometimes fate has a way of telling you if it was meant to be or not," answered Mr. Kent, reaching over to touch Nell's face. "Dean sounds like a good man, but don't agree to marry him if you aren't in the relationship for the right reasons."

"Is tired of being alone the right reason?" asked Nell, stepping closer to Mr. Kent, the space between their heads slowly shrinking. "He's not the good man I want."

Chloe's jaw dropped. The scene in front of her was so impossible to believe yet incredibly real. Frozen in her tracks, she racked her brain for clues on this odd pairing and she couldn't believe she had not connected the dots earlier.

In what was a case of overlooking the obvious, she knew that Mrs. Kent had been a city girl and not from Smallville but Chloe had never thought to wonder who had captured Mr. Kent's attention while he grew up in Smallville. She never would have guessed that Lana's aunt had filled that role. Smallville was certainly proving to be a very small town.

Back to the present, Chloe felt it was time to bail now that it looked like Nell and Mr. Kent were about to kiss. She did not want to witness something that she would have to keep away from Clark to protect his family nor did she want to lose respect for both male Kents in one twenty-four hour span. But when she stepped backwards from her hiding spot, Chloe did not notice where she was placing her foot and immediately broke a stiff cornstalk that happened to have fallen earlier that day.

_SNAP!_

The loud noise jerked Nell and Mr. Kent away from each other but Chloe had not waited to see if they had noticed her and hurried out of the area, keeping low to stay hidden among the tall crops while she rushed back in the direction of the Kent barn.

As she approached the barn's big red doors, Chloe first heard and then saw Pete's car driving away from the Kent Farm. A sense of relief filled her knowing that it meant Pete was safe and sound, but a new voice brought her to a halt.

"Hey, Chloe. Pete wanted to let you know he was okay and headed over to the Talon to see if you were there since we figured you wouldn't come here," said Clark, standing in the shaded part of the barn entrance. "But here you are."

Chloe let out a sound of frustration, closely resembling a growl and leaped into Clark's arms, hugging the life out of him. Clark seemed surprised but just as quickly she was out of his arms and slugging his shoulder, which stung her fist more than she let on.

"You have been, currently are, and probably will always be a dumb idiot, Clark Kent," said Chloe, subtly flexing her hurt hand behind her back. "But thanks for finding Pete."

Clark looked stung. "He's my friend too, Chloe. You know I do anything I can for my friends."

Chloe frowned but stayed silent, instead looking off at the sun that was starting to set over the Kent Farm.

"I'm glad you came," said Clark.

"I was worried about Pete," said Chloe.

Clark sighed but when he started to move he was racked with a bout of horrible coughing. Chloe turned to him, quickly taking note of his ashen face and slightly fatigued features that she did not see when he had been in the shadows.

For others that was something you would see from time to time when they were overworking themselves but when it came to Clark, Chloe could not recall him ever looking so weak. Despite everything that had happened between them, she didn't think twice before walking over to check on him.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good, Clark," said Chloe concerned.

"I'm fine," claimed Clark, trying to return upright but visibly struggling and nearly falling before Chloe moved to help support him. "Okay, maybe I'm feeling a little weak."

Chloe helped him over to the bales of hay so he could sit down. She chose to stand in front of him once he was settled. "That doesn't sound like you at all. What did happen over at Hamilton's place?"

Clark's face turned grim. "I arrived just in time. He had Pete alright, all tied up and it looked like he was about to inject Pete with liquified meteor rock."

"You stopped him right?" asked a pale Chloe.

"Barely," said Clark quietly. "Hamilton was so fixated on getting answers from Pete that he didn't notice my entrance and I was able to knock him away from Pete ..."

He trailed off but Chloe was not satisfied with his answer. "But why are you feeling weak? That sounds like a one hit knockout," she said confusedly.

Clark looked up and met her gaze, displaying an aura of seriousness similar to what she had seen that morning but there was something different this time around. He seemed to be deciding something and his stare was beginning to unnerve her. She felt strangely vulnerable despite being the one asking the question.

"I was in such a hurry to get Pete out of there away from danger that I hadn't noticed just how much liquid meteor rock Hamilton had on hand," said Clark, still looking at Chloe but continuing his story as if he had not stopped talking. "There was enough of it in the room that I was exposed to its effects without even having it touch my skin and it sapped away my strength."

"Wait," said Chloe, thinking hard. "How come Hamilton and Pete weren't affected like you were?"

Clark sighed. "Because the meteor rocks affect me differently than anyone else I know. Ever since I can remember I've been extremely sensitive to their presence. You might even say I have an _allergy_ to it."

"How bad is the allergy to have you feeling like this?" said Chloe, knowing he was holding something back.

Clark looked away. "Depends on the exposure," he mumbled. "From experience I can say that the pain can get debilitating and dangerous if there is too much of it or if I am in contact with it for too long. Even a little bit can affect me, like Lana's necklace, I was always clumsy around her while she wore it because the rock would sap my strength the closer I got."

"How did you two get out of there then?" asked Chloe, her hands subconsciously clenching into white-knuckled fists.

"I was able to free Pete from the ropes before I lost my strength and he had to half-carry, half-drag me out of there," said Clark.

Chloe paced. "And Hamilton? I notice you haven't mentioned him in your story after knocking him down."

"He didn't make it," said Clark, his eyes growing dark. "Remember that janitor last year that took our class hostage during that field trip to the fertilizer plant? Hamilton had the same condition as that guy and after I went down, Pete defended me and knocked him into his work station. A vial of liquid meteor rock splashed onto him and he was in one long continuous seizure until he died."

"That's terrible," said Chloe. "The meteor rock poisoning must have drove him mad, if he was willing to attack Pete like he did. I can't deny feeling safer knowing that he isn't around anymore to go after the rest of us in looking for that spaceship."

Clark bowed his head. "Now you understand why I did what I did, Chloe."

"What do you mean?"

"The danger Hamilton posed, Pete getting attacked, the meteor rocks weakening me. They all came to be because of that spaceship," said Clark firmly.

Chloe shook her head. "You couldn't have foreseen all of this."

"No I couldn't, but I didn't want anything happen to you or Pete, so I went to hide the ship and hope nothing would come of it," said Clark, standing up now that his strength seemed to have returned. "Clearly I was right to. We almost lost Pete today and I wasn't far behind."

"That doesn't excuse what you did, Clark. Sneaking around in the middle of the night behind my back doesn't feel like protection to me," said Chloe, turning away from Clark.

"Maybe I was wrong in how I did it" admitted Clark. "I should have talked to you first but I know how you don't want to be treated like a delicate object that needs to be kept wrapped up ... I was just trying to protect you."

Chloe's heart started to flutter despite her wishes but she willed herself to stay silent, instead continuing to stare out at the expanse of Kent Farm. This did not discourage Clark and he started to approach her.

"And there's more. Pete told me that Hamilton had photographs of the spaceship. Someone out there knows about its existence and knows the social circles psychos like Hamilton run in."

Immediately Chloe thought of the photographs she had uploaded to the web on Sunday night when she was searching for information on the spaceship. Biting her lip, she knew it was no coincidence, some of her sources came from not the most reputable places.

She made note to go back later that night and erase her contributions before others got any ideas, after all from her experience any viable information she would get from those photos would have come in the first forty-eight hours anyway.

"But with Hamilton gone, the trail dies with him," reasoned Chloe, looking to calm Clark. "And also there is the fact that you have presumably hidden the ship in a place safer than my carport. That reminds me, I wanted to ask-"

"Chloe ..." interrupted Clark.

"I'm not going to force you to tell where it is," said Chloe reassuringly. "I just wondered if the ship was connected to the meteor rocks and if maybe you were being affected because of your allergy. It could explain some of your weirder than usual behavior lately since you came into contact with the spaceship."

Clark hesitated, seeming to be choosing his words carefully. "I won't deny that the ship affects me, but not in the same way of the meteor rocks. My actions have been erratic lately, and I hurt you because of them but I won't use the ship as an excuse. I've made a lot of mistakes this week."

"Sounding like your old self already," said Chloe with a sad smile. "You might be a bull in a china shop when it comes to communication and emotions, Clark, but I am learning that you are just trying to keep all of us safe in a surprisingly dangerous world. Always risking yourself in situations where others would just run away. You are a genuine hero."

Her eyes began to shine with unshed tears but it was her steadfast praise even after everything that had happened that day that seemed to be the breaking point for Clark. Surprising Chloe, he grabbed her hand and started pulling her away from the barn.

"Wha-" yelped Chloe. She tried to get him to let go but stopped protesting upon seeing the serious look on Clark's face. "Where are we going?" she said curiously.

Clark did not answer and before they reached the house he turned left taking them towards the back, behind the barn where he led Chloe to the doors of the storm cellar.

"I should have done this from the beginning," said Clark, opening the doors and walking down the steps of the storm cellar without waiting for Chloe.

"Uh, okay," said Chloe, leaning over to try to see through the darkness of the storm cellar. Steeling her nerves, she decided to follow Clark down. "Cute girl walking down into a dark room, this reeks of a slasher film," she whispered under her breath.

But to her surprise when she reached the bottom of the steps there waiting in the middle of the storm cellar was Clark standing next to the spaceship she thought she would never see again.

"I don't understand," said Chloe.

Clark patted the spaceship. "Here it is, Chloe. Today I came to realize just how much I was risking when I wrongly took it from you that night. You don't have to agree but I want you to have access to the ship here. I'd like to work together to find out more about it but if you'd prefer me to stay away I will."

"Clark, I don't know if this is a good idea. This ship has brought me nothing but trouble," said Chloe. "And what about your parents? It looks like they use this place enough that they would notice a spaceship sitting in the middle of it."

"They already know about it," said Clark, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "That I'm hiding it and that no one outside the family knows about it being here."

Chloe's eyebrows rose. "How do I fit in that equation?"

"Like you always have, Chloe," answered Clark earnestly. "Even if you can't find it in you to forgive my actions, you will always be more than just my best friend. You're as good as family and my parents have been treating you as such for years."

"Alright," said Chloe, her cheeks reddening. "I'll keep the secret of the ship and maybe if I feel like revisiting it, I'm glad I can. Until something more substantial can be found on its origin, maybe it should be forgotten for awhile though."

Clark smiled and awkwardly walked over to Chloe. "And are we okay?" he asked, looking intently into her eyes.

Taken off guard, Chloe nervously took a step back. "I-I'm not sure, Clark," stammered Chloe. "A lot of bad things happened this week, and most were by your actions ... I need time Clark. Time alone."

"I understand," said Clark, his shoulders slumping. "Maybe I should go."

"Yeah," said Chloe, without much thought, noticeably wounding Clark. "Oh! I didn't mean it like that. I meant I need to go too. It's late. But this is a small step back in the right direction. I need to be able to trust you again with my friendship before I even think about opening my heart again. Let's go slow and see what happens. Maybe this will be for the best." She finished with a friendly jab to his shoulder and a smile.

Clark followed her out and stood watching from the porch as she got into her car, waved and drove away. Chloe didn't stop the car until she had driven all the way home, her white knuckled grip on the steering wheel revealing her true emotions. Once the Ford Falcon was parked in the carport she collapsed against the steering wheel exhausted, a tear trailing down her cheek.

"Yeah, for the best."


	8. Chapter 8: Scarlet

Author's Note: Thanks to roshane, The Fallen Sky, Madlenita, whatweareafreaidof, badboys8520, Twylyte, Jeremy Shane, dizzy78, badkidoh & aznblackhowling for your feedback and support. I'll do my best to make the next wait between chapters as short as possible. This story is fun to write and I want to see where it goes. The rating of this story goes up to M with this chapter because of sexual situations. I appreciate your patience and continued reading. I do wish the old review response existed, sorry to all I bothered with the PMs. - ES (08/19/2011)

**Chapter Eight - Scarlet**

It did not happen overnight, but eventually life returned to its relatively normal existence for Chloe Sullivan. Of course there was the new complication of her "break" from the relationship with Clark and the mutual - unspoken - decision between the two of them to keep it a secret from their friends.

Chloe was becoming a pro at putting on a fake smile and pretending everything was okay and Clark seemed grateful that she was not avoiding him like she had during the spaceship incident and did not press the matter.

Pete and Lana sent curious looks their way every now and then but for the most part the two friends respected Chloe and Clark enough to not pry into their visibly less affectionate relationship or the fact that group outings were suddenly the flavor of the week. It was like junior high all over again for Chloe but she was appreciative for Pete and Lana's supportive restraint.

By the time class ring day happened at Smallville High, Chloe was back to her old self, determined to investigate even the smallest news item to cross her path. Today, the expensive class ring was her obsession.

Chloe held up her hand to scrutinize the newly bought ring sitting on her finger. "Nothing like spending three hundred and fifty dollars on a ring that looks like it came out of a Cracker Jack box."

Clark disagreed.

"I think it looks great on you, Chloe," said Clark as he stood in line with Pete to get their class ring.

"Sure, now it does," said Chloe. "But we'll be lucky if the ring lasts through our graduation. And is the ruby even real? It looks odd to me."

Pete groaned. "C'mon, Chloe, class rings are a high school tradition. Can't you just enjoy the experience of supporting the school?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Yay, school spirit. Rah rah, sis boom bah," she said snarkily, punching her ring-clad fist in the air in mocking fashion.

"And what about you, Clark?" asked Pete. "You sure you going to do this?"

"I'm here aren't I?" said Clark defensively.

Chloe and Pete shared a knowing look.

"What?"

"I believe your dad had a pretty strong opinion about you buying a class ring or not," said Pete.

"I earned that money," said Clark firmly. "And besides, he said it was my decision to make."

"Which means you're really not supposed to buy it," said Pete, moving up to the front to buy his ring.

"Pete's right," agreed Chloe. "That was total parent doublespeak from your dad. They tell you that you have the power when in reality the decision was already made by them and they are just waiting for you to follow the breadcrumbs to their choice."

Clark stared at the check in his hand. "I'm getting it, Chloe."

"Okay, okay, don't say I didn't try to stop you," said Chloe with her hands up in defeat. "If you're willing to brave the stormy waters Pa Kent is sure to stir up, I say jump in with both feet."

Chloe watched Clark nod and waited until he was at the table getting his own ring before letting the smirk she had been feeling out for everyone to see. Clark's purchase was going to cause trouble, Chloe could taste it.

"Hey, is that the new girl?" asked Pete, interrupting Chloe's thoughts as he returned with ring in hand to where she stood waiting.

Looking down the hall Chloe saw Lana and a blonde girl talking to Smallville High's current temporary principal.

"I think so. I should probably head over there and find out what's going on. I promised Lana I would help with the welcome tour today."

"Let's just wait for Clark, we'll go with you," said Pete, looking back towards the ring table.

Less than a minute later Clark approached them with a strange look on his face.

"Are you feeling alright?" asked Chloe.

"Yeah, I feel fantastic," said Clark, looking at Chloe with an unfamiliar growing leer that made her stomach quiver uncomfortably.

"Riiight," said Chloe uneasily, turning away from Clark and creating distance from his stare by walking over towards where Lana and the new girl were standing and talking to Principal Gibbons. "How's the tour going?" she asked.

"Off to a less than auspicious start, Miss Sullivan," answered the frowning principal. "Now see, Jessie, like Miss Lang, Miss Sullivan also follows the school dress code quite easily while still keeping to her unique style. Layers are much better than small sheer tops that show off your underwear and bare unnecessary skin."

Clark's bark of laughter drew everyone's attention his way. "I think she looks hot like that. In fact," he said, connecting gazes with Chloe and Lana, "Maybe all the girls at Smallville High should adopt the look."

Jessie's appreciative face was bookended by a matching pair of surprised looks.

"Your hormonal preferences are best left for another conversation, Mr. Kent. Perhaps with the school nurse or your parents," said Principal Gibbons.

"I'm not changing," added Jessie, bringing the principal's focus back on her.

The older man waved towards the hallway behind him. "Then perhaps you would like to discuss your attitude in my office."

Seeing Clark ready to butt in again, Chloe sidestepped in front of him and spoke up first. "Mr. Gibbons, it is Jessie's first day after all. Surely there is some room for erring due to not knowing."

Towering over Chloe, Clark could not be held silent for long. "Yeah, cut her some slack. Your dress code sucks. Besides, I don't think you should be the one giving fashion tips."

Chloe turned and frantically reached up to cover Clark's mouth with her hands. "He meant that in the most respectful way possible," she said, awkwardly flashing a friendly smile over her shoulder at the principal.

The principal's eyes softened at Chloe's scrambling and let out a sigh before turning towards Jessie. "Tomorrow, young lady, proper attire or you are going straight home. Miss Sullivan, Miss Lang, do try to reign in Mr. Kent. It's not even nine a.m."

"Will do," said Chloe with fake cheer.

Lana nodded and turned towards Jessie. "I guess we can continue our welcome tour then. Are you coming, Chloe?"

"I'll be right there, just one second," said Chloe. She waited for Pete and the others to step away before turning around and stepping into Clark's personal space. "I don't know what is going on with you today, Clark, but I thought we agreed to keep things cool."

When Clark flashed a less than innocent smile, Chloe put her palm on his chest warningly. "Down boy. If a cute girl in barely there clothes that you just met is getting you this jumpy, maybe you need this time apart as much as I do. But do try to behave."

Chloe turned and left to join Lana and Jessie without waiting to hear Clark's response. She could feel his stare on her retreating back and she only felt comfortable after shifting her book bag behind her butt, blocking what she was sure was Clark's focus.

Chloe had won the battle, but the war of hormones had only just begun.

* * *

Chloe had spent the last hour reading about worker revolution and political radicalism but the 'Red Scare' could not keep her from looking up periodically from her history book and glancing between the Talon clock and the front entrance.

Chloe had thought she was being subtle about it, but the next time her eyes left the book Lana caught her gaze with a knowing look.

"He'll be here," said Lana reassuringly, reaching out to pat Chloe's hand.

"I'm not as sure," admitted Chloe, taking a sip of her now cold latte. "He wasn't acting like himself today. It was like he had 'OD'd on hormones. And the invitation to that bar, what was that?"

Pete cleared his throat uncomfortably from his spot across the table from them.

"Let's not forget there's a guy here who really doesn't want this study session devolve into a bout of girl talk about said guy's best friend who happens to be the 'eye candy' of both girls. A guy could develop an insecurity complex."

Chloe rolled her eyes and threw a piece of her muffin at Pete's head. "You, insecure? Next thing you will tell me is that ... "

Chloe trailed off and Lana's smile grew as they heard the Talon's door chimes make noise and into their view walked Clark Kent. "Speak of the devil," said Lana.

"I wasn't planning on showing up but then my ears started to burn," said Clark with a cocky smirk. "And I figured that one more attempt trying to convince two gorgeous girls on being my dates was worth the suffering I might experience coming to your study 'party'."

"Meanwhile, you are an hour late and I've been the one suffering here, pal," said Pete with a snort.

Clark shrugged. "Every man for himself, Pete."

"Where are your books?" asked Chloe, an eyebrow raised as she took in his appearance.

"I thought I had made it clear what I thought about studying tonight," said Clark, squeezing a chair in between Chloe and Lana and sitting down. "I must admit the scenery is quite tempting, now I can't believe that I wasn't going to come."

A blush appeared on Lana's cheeks and she averted her eyes with Clark's gaze on her, but Chloe was less appreciative of Clark's leers and sent a not too gentle elbow into his side. She leaned towards him.

"I thought I told you this morning to _behave_," she said in a louder voice than she intended, making it easy for Pete and Lana to hear.

Clark turned in his seat and mirrored Chloe's posture, leaning in until there was less than an inch between their faces and smiling. "And all this time I thought you wanted a bad boy."

"Poorly thought up fantasies told in confidence are not something a girl wants to share with her friends," whispered Chloe harshly, clearly flustered.

Something in her face seemed to get through to Clark and he backed off looking apologetic. "My mistake, Chlo Bear..." His arms on the other hand made their way around the backs of both Chloe and Lana's chairs. His fingers danced along the girls shoulders. "What about other fantasies? Like mine? I can think of one that can become a reality tonight."

Chloe gasped and Lana stiffened in her seat, while Pete nearly fell out of his in shock.

"Clark, its extremely rude to make such assumptions of girls ... especially ones that are supposed to be your friends," said Lana, scooting her chair away from Clark.

Pete looked ready to call out Clark, but Chloe jumped in just as he opened his mouth.

"I don't know what is going on in that head of yours, Clark, but you are making it really hard to be polite right now. A, several crude things have come out of your mouth today, Clark and it is not attractive at all. B, in your dreams. C, you can barely handle one girl let alone two. Talk about reaching for the sky." said Chloe, counting off the reasons on her hand.

Clark smiled and answered right back. "Your reactions these last few months made me think you liked my mouth. And it is in my dreams, as this is my fantasy we're talking about. And I'm a lot stronger than you think, I could handle you didn't I?"

Chloe slammed her book shut, the urge to get away from Clark had grown too great to ignore. "I think I need to get a refill on my decaf. I'll get a cup for you too, because you need to chill out. I swear to god Clark, your mood swings are worse than a girl's."

"I'll join you," offered Lana quickly, eager to escape Clark's clutches as well so she followed Chloe back to the espresso bar.

As they walked away from the table they could hear Pete start to scold Clark, "Dude! What the hell was that?"

Knowing that Pete had not taken the same trip down jerk lane that Clark was currently on helped relieve the room of some tension, but not much. The excuse to get fresh coffee seemed to take Lana's mind off Clark's attitude but Chloe was just about ready to get to the bottom of this opposite Clark.

She was restraining herself from reaching for the phone on the other side of the espresso bar counter and dialing up the Kent Farm to interrogate the Kents on what happened to their son and find out who was this impostor trying to get them to ditch their American History cram session for a night of bar-hopping.

"I would rather close my eyes and hope that this is just some strange night exception like full moon weirdness and not worry the Kents," said Lana, revealing she was on a similar train of thought as Chloe.

Chloe frowned while fingering the lip of the flower vase on the counter. "Unfortunately, in Smallville ignoring strange happenings almost always leads to worse situations."

"We'll just have to make sure Clark stays with us then. Grin and bear his less than admirable personality tonight for the greater good," said Lana nodding grimly.

Chloe grasped her friend's hand. "I know you still have feelings for Clark, I can't tell you how much it kills me he's acting like this."

"Hey, we both know something is wrong and that this is more important than our teen drama lives," said Lana. "Clark is my friend and has been since he came into everyone's lives after the meteor shower. The one good thing to happen from that terrible event. He would do this for either of us in a heartbeat if the situation was reversed."

Lana squeezed Chloe's hand but hesitated briefly before asking a question she seemed to have had on her mind. "I don't want to pry but I was wondering ... first with his comments to Jessie this morning and then everything during school and now tonight, Clark isn't acting like he's part of a monogamous relationship, is he?"

Chloe sighed but met Lana's curious gaze. "Last week, we sort of went on a 'break'." Lana's hand squeezed again but Chloe continued on before Lana could respond. "You were right, you know, Clark wasn't treating me like an equal partner and he kept making decisions about me without talking to me. Our friendship wasn't going to last long if that kept on so I made sure we took a step back to reassess our approach to a relationship before we try to be in one."

"And he responds by acting out like this?" said Lana doubtfully. "Not exactly what I imagined our boy next door to be doing. Why would he lash out against two people he cares about like this?"

Chloe bit on her lip, wondering how much she should share with Lana. Her friend had been nothing but loyal since Chloe had returned to Smallville for the new year and Chloe knew Lana cared for Clark more than she showed publicly. That made it an easy decision for Chloe.

"Well, that's why I'm thinking there might be a little more to this than simple repressed hormones finally emerging because of puberty. After having some weird freak outs Clark told me about this allergy he has that can sometimes affect him."

Lana seemed surprised but perked up at this showing of Chloe's implicit trust. "So you think this allergy might be affecting him now?"

"I don't know to be honest," said Chloe. "It never made him act like this at least from what I've seen, but then if this little break has him as emotional as I've been maybe it made him susceptible to changes. I mean, before he would avoid me like a plague and be secretive, not throw himself at me and my best friend at the same time like he has tonight or check out our butts like he's been doing for at least the last five minutes."

Lana glanced back towards the study session table and without a doubt

there was Clark looking towards them with a mischievous smile while Pete talked in hushed histrionics next to him. A blush reddened her cheeks, causing Chloe to look as well and she felt it immediately. There was something about Clark's stare. It was if Clark was undressing them with his eyes and it had taken a near physical form as her butt felt strangely warm.

A heat was developing in her belly but Chloe squashed those feelings that badly wanted to emerge and steeled herself. She locked eyes with Lana while she grabbed their new cups of coffee. "So we're in this together right? We keep Clark busy, try to fit in some studying in between his leers and make sure he gets back to the Kents where hopefully he sleeps it off and wakes up tomorrow back to his old, gentle, polite, dark, tall and handsome farm boy we know all too well."

Lana nodded but her face fell when she glanced past Chloe. "There might be a problem with that plan, Chloe."

Chloe spun around but it was already too late, their man of the night was nowhere in sight, the seat he had been occupying was empty and only a troubled Pete was left at the table.

"Clark is gone. He couldn't have known what we were up to, could he?" asked Lana.

Chloe leaned back against the bar, shaking her head. "He'd have to have super human hearing to know what we were talking about. And with the way he was staring at our butts, I doubt even that would have been possible for him to pay attention long enough to do. No, I think we were just not the party group Clark was looking for."

Lana sipped on her coffee. "How are we supposed to study after that? I almost want to go find Clark."

"He's a big boy Lana and we're speaking mostly from worry, not danger. I can't help but have a bad feeling about this though," said Chloe frowning. She nodded her head towards the study table. "If tonight showed us something it's that we can't control what Clark does, but I know something I can control. That American History test grade."

She sighed before heading towards Pete and the study table with her coffee, Lana right behind her. Clark would be on her mind, but she had learned long ago how to put him to the side and get on with her life. Tonight would be the first step back into that method.

* * *

It was at a young age that Chloe discovered how much the pages of a good book could go towards calming her and letting her escape to another world. And that was why since then there was always a novel of some kind on her nightstand ready to be opened and used to take her away from the troubles of real life.

Right now it was the thick volume of _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ that Chloe had in her hands for a bit of light reading. After the events of the day, she had wanted nothing more to curl up with a good book and think about broomsticks and wizards instead of worrying about what was wrong with Clark, a reflex that was becoming something of a broken record of late when it came to the guy in her life.

It was past midnight, and her father had been long asleep for hours but Chloe had just reached the Yule Ball part of the book where the boys had to ask the girls to the dance and the lure of reading teenage romance angst seemed much more appealing than the act of living through it which she had done lately.

Her enjoyment was short-lived however, when the cordless phone in her room started ringing. Chloe quickly scrambled across the bed and answered it before the ringing would wake up her father. "Hello?"

"Chlo Bear, I was hoping it would be you."

"Clark?" said Chloe confused.

"Of course it's me. Do you have other guys calling you in the middle of the night?" asked Clark, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Maybe Pete? He seemed eager to stay behind with you and Lana at the Talon today."

Chloe sat back against her headboard and let out a sigh. "Don't be stupid, Clark. It's more that I'm wondering why you would choose the middle of the night to check in after bailing on us without even a goodbye."

"Well, I'm sorry if while I was shopping I came upon some jewelry that reminded me of you, and then I started picturing you wearing them and well I just had to talk to you after that."

Chloe sat up. "There's nothing in Smallville open this late. Where are you, Clark? Are you drunk?"

"I skipped out on the Wild Coyote," said Clark laughing. "I thought there was much better ways to spend my evening and Metropolis was just calling out to me."

"Metropolis?" said Chloe. "That's a good two hour drive from here. Your parents are going to kill you by the time you get home."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that-" Clark's voice cut off on the phone and a sudden whoosh enveloped Chloe's bedroom from the open window where suddenly Clark was sitting. "-I know a shortcut."

Chloe gasped, dropping the phone. "How?"

"A family secret," said Clark with a smirk that quickly turned into a leer. "Nice pjs, Chloe. I was hoping for something a bit more babydoll but I can work with this."

Crinkling her eyes in confusion, Chloe glanced down and realized her bed sheet had fallen to reveal her pastel blue flannel pajamas that had tiny unicorns printed all over it. With reddened cheeks Chloe snatched up the sheets and covered herself in vain.

Chloe watched uneasily as Clark surveyed her room, taking the time to look at the framed awards on the wall, the pictures of them, her family, Pete and Lana all over the vanity mirror above her bureau, the small bookshelf under her window filled with classics and modern fiction, the inconspicuous Backstreet Boys poster in the corner and the stacks of files and notebooks that cluttered up the room in several places.

He made his way to the foot of Chloe's bed and sat down calmly, not saying a word and only stared at her. After what felt like an uncomfortably long time but was more likely only a minute or two of silence Chloe cleared her throat.

"You need to go," she said simply.

Clark tilted his head while continuing to stare. "But I haven't given you your present yet," he said.

"I don't know what's going on with you, Clark, but the last thing I want right now is something from you." said Chloe, waving her hands.

She blinked and Clark was gone from the bed. Another blink and there was a light weight on her neck as she felt something cool against it and there was soft breathing against her ear.

"I think this will change your mind," said Clark from his new spot next to her. His lips brushed against her ear as he spoke, sending a shiver down her spine.

Chloe reached up and found herself lightly touching a string of pearls that were now around her neck. She turned sharply towards Clark, ignoring the way his nose brushing her cheek felt like. "You didn't?" she said in disbelief.

Clark just shrugged and Chloe, ignoring her own earlier attempts at propriety dropped the sheets she had been clutching and left the safety of the bed, walking over to the floor mirror in the corner of her bedroom.

She had stood in front of the mirror for less than a minute looking at the pearl necklace she was wearing when Clark stepped behind her and joined in at admiring how it looked on her.

"See," said Clark. "It belongs on you." He reached around and put his hand over the one Chloe was using to touch the necklace.

Chloe's eyes darted between the necklace and Clark's intense face, biting her bottom lip with indecision. The sexual tension in the room was palpable and quickly becoming too much for her comfort. Chloe reached up with her free hand to undo the necklace but was stopped by Clark's other hand.

"Fine," said Clark, seeming to relent. "I'll return the necklace if that's what you want." His hand stroked her raised arm, creating goose bumps. "But not tonight. Tonight, pretend it is yours forever like I am." And then his lips found her bare neck, where he began to lay kisses.

Surprised, Chloe closed her eyes at the sensations Clark was creating and she leaned back into him, moving her raised hand to clutch his head against her. Clark nibbled and sucked on her neck, moving back and forth between Chloe's jawline and her collar bone.

Lost in the moment, Chloe didn't object to Clark pushing away her hand that had been gripping the pearls, letting it fall to her side. Nor did she notice that while Clark kissed away at her neck that his hands had moved to the front of her pajama top and had begun to unbutton it. One by one each button was undone, and inch by inch of pale, ivory skin was being revealed in the mirror.

"Clark?" said Chloe faintly, but his mouth quickly covered hers as he tilted her chin back towards him.

There were no buttons left to undo and the lapels of her top were just parted, leaving an expanse of smooth skin bare from her neck to her waist. Chloe paid no mind, only focused on the stinging passion in the kiss she was sharing with Clark.

The cold air from the open window was beginning to affect Chloe's bare skin but the heat building inside her was more of a priority at the moment. It was only Clark's voice that broke the momentum of the moment, but even that was brief.

"Chloe."

"Hm?" murmured Chloe, eyes still closed trying to recapture Clark's mouth blindly.

"Look at me."

Chloe squinted as her eyes tried to focus on Clark in the moonlit lighting of her bedroom. "What?" she said with a hint of impatience.

"Told you that you wanted a bad boy," said Clark smirking.

Chloe spluttered indignantly. "That's not - I don't - look this is just-"

"Don't worry, babe," said Clark putting a finger to her lips. "I'm not done with you yet. Just watch." He smirked again - a seemingly permanent fixture on his face that day - and turned her head back to the mirror they were facing.

Chloe took in her appearance and only now realized how undressed she had become. She moved her hands to redo the buttons of her top but Clark caught them and pulled them to her side again in a gentle rebuke, clearly with other plans on his mind.

"Just watch."

Clark said it simply and the tone of his voice increased the fluttering in her stomach. Chloe watched nervously as he brought his hands to the lapels of her top and slowly pulled them apart. Inch by inch of her skin was bared to Clark's eyes, parts of her that no male had seen before came into view as her top was pushed right off her shoulders, revealing her soft heaving breasts.

Chloe glanced at Clark's eyes to catch his reaction, and the intensity of the lust in his eyes scared and thrilled her at the same time. She was excited but they had already blown way past any type of sexual contact she had expected to reach with Clark anytime soon, let alone now that they were on a 'break' and Chloe was about to say just as much but then Clark acted.

Clark's hands moved faster than her eyes could follow and the next thing Chloe knew he had palmed her breasts, pushing her against his chest as he caressed hers.

Instead of words coming out of her mouth, it was light moans from the sensations his warm palms against her cold breasts were creating. Clark's fingers were becoming familiar with the contours of her breasts, and seemed especially fond of her pert pink nipples that were quite sensitive.

Chloe tilted her head back and captured Clark's lips in a fierce kiss, standing on her tiptoes and pouring the heat she was feeling into it. So passionate was the kiss, that Chloe did not notice one of Clark's hands begin to drift away from breasts, down her tummy, past the drawstring waistband of her pajama bottoms and into her boy shorts where her glistening sex awaited.

When his fingers touched her there, Chloe shuddered against Clark, quivering in his arms. She could feel his stimulating fingers spreading her wetness and her hips began to rock with the motions of his hand.

Chloe felt Clark shifting against her and then felt herself get lifted up so that her hips were now against Clark's as he ground his against her butt. Seeming weightless in Clark's arms, Chloe lost herself in the feelings being stirred in her loins and when Clark found her clitoris, she threw her head back and let herself go, only just remembering to use her hand to stifle her moans as she orgasmed.

"Clark."

Chloe said it softly after she peaked. It was one word, yet at that moment it meant so many things to her. She had collapsed against Clark, suddenly exhausted like she had just run a marathon. A very pleasant marathon but tiring nonetheless. She fought to keep he eyes opened as Clark shifted her into his arms and carried her over to the bed, her pajamas forgotten on the floor.

Her mind was cloudy with lustful thoughts and emotions she wasn't entirely ready for but Chloe was surprised when instead of joining her in bed, Clark merely kissed her on the forehead and tucked her in snuggly. She had a questioning look on her face as he walked towards her open window. He turned back when he reached it.

"Next time it's my turn," said Clark with a smirk.

Chloe's breath caught and then she blinked and he was gone. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew nothing was going to be the same again.


End file.
